In These Times' Lindsey Beyerstein reported back in August that the miners would have escaped right away, if only the mine owners followed the law, and the government enforced the law. "Javier Castillo, the secretary of a union that represents miners at another mine owned by San Esteban Primera, said in an interview that managers are proceeding without input from workers..." ...Al Jazeera, in the above video report, interviewed a miner who said "everyone knew" the San Jose mine "was unsafe." He continued: "The good mines don't hire people our age [in the 50s]. They prefer them young. So we have no choice but to accept abnormal working conditions."