El Tío

El Tío ("The Uncle") is a demonic spirit who appears in Bolivian mythology as the "Lord of the Underworld". He is believed to be the ruler of the mines, simultaneously offering both protection and destruction to those who work in it, and shrines and statues of him can be seen throughout mines in Cerro Rico, Potosí, Bolivia.

He appears as the main antagonist in a Bolivian oral folk legend about a deaf boy who runs away from an abusive home and discovers he has a special power to resolve people's problems by screaming a scream said to be as loud as an earthquake and tornado. Along his journeys, the boy finds a stray dog and an old man who had stones hurled at him by villagers. By screaming, the boy is able to resolve the situation by screaming, which revives the old man's heart.

The boy and the old man later meet a disfigured man shunned and considered a leper by society. The disfigured man reveals he is a prophet who was cursed by El Tío for refusing to worship him and abandoned a village that was controlled by the demon. He tells them that the demon can be found in a village in the desert that was populated by people who worshipped El Tío until El Tío cursed them to kill themselves.

Together, the three go to the mine where the demon resides but only the boy could go in as his deafness made him unable to hear El Tío whispering demonic curses. Thus the boy goes to confront El Tío and screams at him to overpower his whispering and stop him from cursing anybody else.

In Popular Culture
El Tío appears in the music video for English record producer Naughty Boy's song "La la la", which is loosely based around the legend described above. He appears at the end when the boy is left alone to confront him.