Abstract

From the analysis of the Bolivian records of the Historical Archive of the Catholic University of the North, we characterize the Bolivian presence during the decline of the nitrate expansion cycle in the Central Canton. Based on data related to the places of origin, labor insertion and sociability at the destination, the article gives an account of the magnitude of the phenomenon and the centrality that this day laborer occupied in the deployment of mining operations. In this way, it can be observed how mining capitalism produces a subaltern workforce in a terri-tory where it resists losing its bolivianity.