Who wants to be a miner?
Mistresses, spouses of miners stake their claims
By Fiona Govan, Daily Telegraph September 3, 2010
Tensions are rising above ground as wives and mistresses of the 33 miners trapped deep within the San Jose mine make rival claims for compensation.
Authorities have had to deal with a wave of women coming forward claiming to be first in the miners' affections in order to receive government handouts.
At least five wives have been forced to come face-to-face with mistresses whose existence was kept from them by their husbands, who have been trapped more than 700 metres below since a cave in on Aug. 5.
One miner has four women fighting over him in an effort to claim compensation.
Officials are considering asking the 33 trapped miners to name those they want to claim the benefits.
"There has been a lot of conflict between women," admitted Marta Flores, a Red Cross worker at the makeshift camp where relatives wait for news of their loved ones. "We had a big bust up in the canteen tent when a wife came across a woman who claimed to be her husband's lover -- we had to step in and pull them apart before things got physical."
At stake are welfare packages issued to the families and future compensation that could run into tens of thousands of dollars.
"Unfortunately the conflict stems from money issues," said Flores.
"Some of the men have children from numerous women and all of them have arrived here to stake their claim. I've met five families in this situation but I'm sure there are more."
Some women turned up at the camp to discover that their partners already had a wife and children who they knew nothing about.
Special welfare officers trained in marital issues have been brought in to provide help to women faced with their husbands' infidelity.
One miner, who has not been named, has a first wife he never divorced, his live-in partner, a mother of a child he fathered several years ago and a woman who claims to be his current girlfriend all at the camp. The team of psychologists charged with ensuring the mental welfare of the men below ground are attempting to keep such developments from the miners.
One of the trapped miners, Yonni Barrios Rojas, who is using his first aid training to treat medical problems underground, is among those who faces difficult questions when he finally makes it the surface.
His wife, Marta Salinas, 56, discovered he had a mistress when she came across another woman holding a vigil for him.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mi...their+claims/3477426/story.html#ixzz0yh9ydMTs
Mistresses, spouses of miners stake their claims
By Fiona Govan, Daily Telegraph September 3, 2010
Tensions are rising above ground as wives and mistresses of the 33 miners trapped deep within the San Jose mine make rival claims for compensation.
Authorities have had to deal with a wave of women coming forward claiming to be first in the miners' affections in order to receive government handouts.
At least five wives have been forced to come face-to-face with mistresses whose existence was kept from them by their husbands, who have been trapped more than 700 metres below since a cave in on Aug. 5.
One miner has four women fighting over him in an effort to claim compensation.
Officials are considering asking the 33 trapped miners to name those they want to claim the benefits.
"There has been a lot of conflict between women," admitted Marta Flores, a Red Cross worker at the makeshift camp where relatives wait for news of their loved ones. "We had a big bust up in the canteen tent when a wife came across a woman who claimed to be her husband's lover -- we had to step in and pull them apart before things got physical."
At stake are welfare packages issued to the families and future compensation that could run into tens of thousands of dollars.
"Unfortunately the conflict stems from money issues," said Flores.
"Some of the men have children from numerous women and all of them have arrived here to stake their claim. I've met five families in this situation but I'm sure there are more."
Some women turned up at the camp to discover that their partners already had a wife and children who they knew nothing about.
Special welfare officers trained in marital issues have been brought in to provide help to women faced with their husbands' infidelity.
One miner, who has not been named, has a first wife he never divorced, his live-in partner, a mother of a child he fathered several years ago and a woman who claims to be his current girlfriend all at the camp. The team of psychologists charged with ensuring the mental welfare of the men below ground are attempting to keep such developments from the miners.
One of the trapped miners, Yonni Barrios Rojas, who is using his first aid training to treat medical problems underground, is among those who faces difficult questions when he finally makes it the surface.
His wife, Marta Salinas, 56, discovered he had a mistress when she came across another woman holding a vigil for him.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mi...their+claims/3477426/story.html#ixzz0yh9ydMTs
