Over 600 statues of El Tío exist in the mines at Cerro Rico. Courtesy of G.M. Azumendi/San Marcos.

Deep inside the dark corners of Bolivia’s deadliest mine, an average of 14 lives are claimed each month. The deaths could be attributed to either the effects of continuously breathing toxic dust and fumes or unsafe working conditions underground, but to the locals it is the work of the devil-like deity known as El Tío.