"My parents were born in the country. My mom was 12 years old, that’s what impresses me, my mom was 12 years old when she left for the mines. She worked taking care of the engineer’s houses and of the mining businessmen’s houses. And a few years later, she met my father. My father was 14 years old. He, at least had a little education. He studied until 5th grade. He spoke Spanish. He wrote well. He also obviously spoke Quechua. From a very young age, they grew up as miners, miners, miners until they got married and had children. And, they had 6, 4 boys and 2 girls. And I’m next to the last child. Basically, I was born in the mines and grew up in the mines."

"I am not from the capital of Potosí. I was born in a small town called LLallagua. It’s a mining center. The airplanes, the trains….the prettiest things that existed in France were brought from this place….the trucks, the cars, etc. It was a huge mining center."

"I liked the norms, the laws (of the United States), the cleanliness that existed in the rivers. When I saw for the first time the clear water of the river, it was impressive. I was impressed by the streets, the grass, the education…the education about taking care of the environment, the cleanliness that everyone cared so much about. That impressed me a lot. Even though you might not believe me, I like to pay taxes to feel a part of this society."