BOLIVIAN MINERS CALL GENERAL STRIKE About 9,000 miners employed by the state corporation, Comibol, declared a general strike as from midnight (0400 gmt) to press for higher salaries, a statement by the federation for Bolivian mine workers said. It said the strike was called to defend the nationalised mining industry. The miners were willing to negotiate with the government of President Victor Paz Estenssoro, but only if it showed an intention to meet the strikers' demands. The government said the strike was designed to cause it embarrassment during the four-day visit of West German President Richard Von Weizsaecker, which starts on Friday. The miners statement said police had violently evicted Comibol office workers in the city of Oruro after they began a hunger strike yesterday. The government has sacked about 20,000 miners from its deficit-ridden corporation since the collapse in the international price of tin. The lay-offs represent about two-thirds of the original workforce.