Nine Chilean 'miracle miners' sue lawyers

Yahoo – AFP, 3 Nov 2015

Miners from "the 33", (L-R) Victor Zamora, Jorge Galleguillos, Luis Urzua and
Mario Gomez arrive at the courthouse in Santiago, on November 2, 2015 (AFP
Photo/Martin Bernetti)

Santiago (AFP) - Nine Chilean miners trapped underground in 2010 in an ordeal that captured world attention sued their lawyers Monday, accusing them of cheating them out of the rights to their story.

The nine men, part of a group of 33 that spent 69 days trapped underground after a collapse at the San Jose mine in northern Chile, accused lawyers Remberto Rodrigo Valdes and Fernando Garcia of defrauding them with a dodgy deal to create a company to manage their rights.

"Today we're being rescued for the second time," said plaintiff Luis Urzua, the foreman who acted as the leader of the trapped miners and was the last to return to the surface when they were saved.

"We've been fighting for four years to show that our rights were violated."

The nine plaintiffs said Valdes and Garcia "misled the 33, making them believe they would manage their own company, only to harm them and appropriate monies that rightfully belonged to them."

The miners say the lawyers convinced all 33 men to set up a company to manage the rights to their story, and that they agreed to give up their rights for about $5,700 each.

The lawsuit deepens a fissure that has emerged in the rescued group in recent years, accentuated last August by the release of "The 33," a movie based on their misadventure and starring Antonio Banderas as miner Mario Sepulveda.

The real-life Sepulveda, the most charismatic of the group, took issue with his comrades' lawsuit.

"It's a shame they're being so ignorant and letting themselves be led astray by people who haven't read the contracts properly," he said.

But one of the plaintiffs, Victor Zamora, insisted the dispute was not between the nine miners and the rest of the group.

"It's not about fighting the (other) miners, because we're a very united group," he said.

"The division we have within the group is because of what the lawyers have done to us."

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33, the magic number

The BBC’s James Read says the number 33 has taken on a special significance for the miners, who are known to be superstitious: there are 33 miners, it took 33 days for the drill to complete the rescue shaft and Roman Catholic Chileans believe Jesus Christ was 33 when he died. Even President Sebastian Pinera mentioned the “magic number” in his triumphant speech after the first miner emerged from the shaft. The date of the rescue 13/10/10, adds up to - you guessed it - 33.


"Atacama Desert, Chile 33-Miners" – Nov 5, 2013 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"The 33 Miners" – Oct 24, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"The N in Kundalini" – Oct 20, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"The Human Design" – Oct 18, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

"... So finally, I give you an answer to a question that has not been asked, but is still on the minds of many. What happened last week in Chile was not an accident [the saving of 33 miners]. Everyone was amazed at how smooth it could be. So, look at the numerology around it! Even the mainstream media noticed - 33, 33, 33. But the media did not tell you the meaning of it, because they didn't know. To them, it was just coincidental, so many 33s!

Let me tell you what it means. Let us take a look at the numerology attributes of 33 from the ancients to modern day. The number 33 is called a master number. It is not to be broken apart numerologically, but you could still look at the attributes of the three alone if you wish. The three in numerological terms is a catalyst energy. A catalytic energy changes things around it. When you put two threes together, they represent one of the highest energies on the planet. It's so high that it's the last master number that is definable by humanity.

In numerology, 44 has no definition. Even those in Tibet who helped originate the numerological system said that 44 was multidimensional and had no paradigm of definition. Neither did 55 or 66 or 77. Thus, 33 was the highest of all defined master numbers and remains so to this day.

Now, don't misunderstand what I'm going to tell you, for this definition is not about the Human Being; it's about an attribute. Thirty-three is defined as the passion of the Christ. Not the man, but the attribute [the noun, compassionate redeemer], the passion of the Christ. Is there anything higher than this? The number 33 is the highest compassion number of them all, and here it was right in Chile, where the heart center moves to. This compassion for the miners was a metaphor filled with energy and things to look at, but nothing will ever be the same here. And how does it make you feel? ...."