Bolivia’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Rodolfo Illanes was on his way to speak with anti-government protesters on Aug. 25, 2016, when he and his assistant were kidnapped by striking miners. Illanes, 58, spoke with a radio station while being held and stated a condition of his release was for the government of President Evo Morales to begin negotiations with the miners. Illanes and his assistant were beaten to death around 6 p.m. that day.
Over 100 people were arrested in connection to Illanes’ murder and two miners were shot and killed by police. The conflict arose from a standoff between the miners and Morales’ government as the miners demanded concessions, including the right to work for private companies and greater union representation, from Bolivian authorities. In 2019, four miners, Rene Cochi Trujillo, Silvestre Flores Ruiz, Carlos Castro Manuel, and Julián Pinto Condori were each given five-year sentences for the role they played in Illanes’ death.
