BOLIVIAN MINERS CALL GENERAL STRIKE

  About 9,000 miners employed by the
  state corporation, Comibol, declared a general strike as from
  midnight (0400 gmt) to press for higher salaries, a statement
  by the federation for Bolivian mine workers said.
       It said the strike was called to defend the nationalised
  mining industry. The miners were willing to negotiate with the
  government of President Victor Paz Estenssoro, but only if it
  showed an intention to meet the strikers' demands.
       The government said the strike was designed to cause it
  embarrassment during the four-day visit of West German
  President Richard Von Weizsaecker, which starts on Friday.
      The miners statement said police had violently evicted
  Comibol office workers in the city of Oruro after they began a
  hunger strike yesterday.
      The government has sacked about 20,000 miners from its
  deficit-ridden corporation since the collapse in the
  international price of tin. The lay-offs represent about
  two-thirds of the original workforce.
  

