Travellers to Bolivia that witness one of the large street protests are sometimes, unsurprisingly,  shocked and always intrigued if they seeminers letting off dynamite in the streets as part of the protest.  The miners are a strong political force in Bolivia and they will usually be involved in any large scale protest, descending on La Paz in groups numbering tens of thousands to march through the streets to make their collective voice heard.  Along the way they will detonate small amounts of dynamite in the open streets which explode with a thunderess bang that vibrates through the buildings all around.It is very rare anyone is hurt during this noisy display as the miners are well versed in keeping people away and only use small amounts but to the uninitiated it can be quite alarming.