Collapse of Dignity: The Story of a Mining Tragedy and the Fight Against Greed and Corruption in Mexico

#4 Book on The New York Times Monthly Business Bestseller List
#9 Book on The New York Times Monthly Political Bestseller List
#9 Book on The New York Times Weekly Nonfiction Bestseller List
USA Today Bestseller

In the early morning hours of February 19, 2006, a sudden blast shook a coal mine in northern Mexico, trapping sixty-five workers in a subterranean tunnel. Napoleón Gómez, head of the fiercely independent union that represented the workers, was appalled by what he found at the scene: labor department inspectors and the company operating the mine had ignored the egregiously hazardous state of the work site and were failing miserably at a rescue effort. Rather than focusing on saving lives, they were busy downplaying the company's role in the collapse and selling false hope to the families camped out at the mouth of the mine. Less than a week after the explosion, Mexico's labor secretary called off the rescue, leaving the lost men to their fates.

The senseless tragedy—stemming directly from an insatiable hunger for profits—set off a massive confrontation between the National Miners' Union and the transnational corporations that wield great power in the country's government. Over seven tumultuous years, Gómez waged a battle against Mexico's corrupt politicians and voraciously greedy businessmen, insisting that the mine blast was an "industrial homicide" and that those responsible must be held accountable for it.

Told with candor and passion,

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