Post 5: The 33 group underground

Last august five in the deposit San José, located to 45 kilometres to the north of Copiapó, the mine collapsed and 33 miners remained caught underground. The catastrophe inmediatly appear in the news and quickly became a matter of national concern. The days and weeks moved on and still the rescatist dind't even know if the miners were still alive. Outside San José the families of the 33 miners moved to the camp "La Esperanza", in order to be there in case they find or kknow anything of the victims.

After 17 days of the accident, in a moment when most of the people though that the miners were death, an incredible thing happen, they send a little camera to explore the place and the camera came bach whit a little paper which has the message: "we are ok in the shelter, the 33". It is a very touching and incredible history but ¿what is behind the adventure of the 33?

The accident and the happy ending has go round all over the chilian press and also the international one, and the show this event like the demostration of how brave, strong and soliday is the people in Chili and how amazing the president is because he has been there during all the process etc.. Unfortunately this event is not a demostration of all that, is an horrible but true reflex on how the people in Chili work. This episode should have produced a huge discussion about how are the laboral laws and the systems of labor protection, which is really the problem here. Actually in the last 20 years 240 miners died in laboral accidents only in the Antofagasta region. It's been a month from the accident and still there's no discussion or changes in the laboral system of the mines.

I wonder how many accidents are requered to produce a truly change...