On 17 October, in response to the government's failure to appear, 150 miners from different villages and communities in Southern Bolivar marched to Cartagena and occupied the headquarters of the Secretariat of Mining.  They were prepared to stay there until the government rescheduled its meeting with them in Santa Rosa, and demanded that it do so by 20 October.  The miners promised that if the government did not respond, 10,000 people would march in Barrancabermeja.