 On Tuesday, February 6, 2007, parts of the Bolivian region of La Paz were brought to a standstill as 20,000 miners took to the roads and streets to protest a tax hike to the Complementary Mining Tax (ICM) by the Morales government.The miners were drawn from small independent co-operatives, many of whom still mine with hammers and chisels.The protesting miners threw dynamite and clashed with those passing by.