Rockfall Death During Coca March

The death of rural teacher Roberto Sixto Mamani Ramírez marked a tragic turn in a coca growers’ march protesting forced coca eradication and advocating for the “defense of dignity, national sovereignty, and life [Kawsachun Coca, 231]. Mamani was killed when he was struck by a falling rock, reportedly dislodged from a mountain. The incident quickly escalated into a source of conflict between the government and workers’ organizations.

Union leaders accused the government of “kidnapping” Mamani’s body to prevent his wake from being held at the headquarters of the Bolivian Workers’ Center (COB) in La Paz. The government, however, denied involvement, claiming that the decision to transfer the body to Cochabamba was made by the Public Ministry, specifically a prosecutor from La Paz. Human Development Minister Enrique Ipiña stated that the body was sent to Cochabamba to be returned to Mamani’s family and insisted that the government had not interfered, noting that the Minister of Labor even attempted to halt the transfer to respect the COB’s wishes.

The remains were initially moved to the town of Sinahota, bypassing roadblocks and reportedly without the family’s consent. Evo Morales, a leader of the coca growers, criticized the government’s actions, accusing it of lying about receiving family requests for the transfer. He suggested the government sought to avoid Mamani’s death becoming a political symbol, as the wake in La Paz would have highlighted tensions between the state and the workers.

Navarro Miranda (2006) later alleged that police and military forces might have dislodged the fatal rock intentionally. Natalia Camacho (1999) noted that the transportation of Mamani’s body to Chapare nearly derailed negotiations between the COB and the government. Despite these controversies, Mamani’s remains were eventually watched over in Cochabamba at the coca workers’ headquarters.