Two Heads, One Mind

It was a classic Bolivian happening, part brute force and part black magic, asking more questions than it answered! A sea of gold braid, army olive and air-force blue swept silently out of the President's office, down one flight of stairs, and swirled around a small table bearing a crucifix. There, as his colleagues looked on, Air Force General Rene Barrientos solemnly swore in Army General Alfredo Ovando Candia as his co-President of Bolivia's ruling junta. Ovando, Barrientos dryly observed, came "from the very entrails of the army" and was a man worthy of his new position. Replied Ovando: "There will not be two Presidents, but one will to serve the country."

On the face of it, the ceremony last week seemed to indicate that Rene Barrientos was no longer the No. 1 man in Bolivia. Army Chief Ovando has been pressuring Barrientos to share power ever since the November coup that toppled President Victor Paz Estenssoro. But things are not always what they seem in Bolivia's dizzying Andean atmosphere. After a week of bloody revolt and political confusion, there were at least as many reasons to believe that the promotion was largely a Barrientos maneuver designed to remove his rival from active command and prepare the Bolivian army for a final showdown against the country's Communist-dominated tin miners.

Attack on the Mines. Barrientos made up his mind to have it out with the miners three weeks ago when he exiled Leftist Union Leader Juan Lechin and announced a campaign to reorganize the overstaffed, money-losing mines (TIME, May 28). At the start, Ovando seemed to back him fully. As union radios at the mines blared a call to revolt, some-1,000 army troops marched into the town of Oruro, killing six miners in a two-hour pitched battle. Another 2,500 soldiers captured four union strongholds in the mining districts and moved to within H miles of the huge Cat-avi-Siglo Veinte complex, where thousands of well-armed miners had barricaded themselves. At that point, the miners requested a 48-hour truce. Barrientos insisted on unconditional surrender. He then summarily canceled all union wage increases granted since last Aug. 31, 1964, and gave the Comibol state mining company freedom to hire and fire any workers it chose.

Before long, fighting flared in half a dozen areas around the country. Red-led factory workers poured out of the industrial district north of La Paz, blew up a railroad bridge, and cut the only road connecting the city to its airport. Ovando rushed 3,000 troops to the area, and two air force F-51s snarled down to strafe sniper roosts. The factory workers refused to surrender, and as the dead and wounded were carried back to La Paz, Ovando seemed to lose his nerve, retiring to his bed and announcing that he was sick. Next day he met with emissaries from the Bolivian Workers Confederation, abruptly agreed to a cease-fire and negotiations for settlement of the miners' demands.

At the news, Barrientos called a meeting of military leaders. This time most of the brass was on his side. Ovan do was reportedly accused of weakening at a critical moment of battle and of negotiating an unauthorized cease-fire that for the moment, at least, scotched the junta's plans for taking over the mines. The face-saving decision was made to move him up to "co-President," where he will no longer have independent authority as army commander in chief. "Don't kid yourself," said one observer, "the current byplay was written, staged, choreographed and directed by Barrientos."

Another Round to So. At week's end sniper fire again echoed through La Paz. The death toll was close to 100 in the five days of fighting, and the junta was threatening an all-out offensive against the mines unless the unions agree to abide by Barrientos' reforms. "We are going to solve the mine problem," said Barrientos, "even if the methods cannot be popular. Sending armed forces into communities in Bolivia is nothing extraordinary. The military is the legal instrument of the government."

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