On Friday, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announced
that Colombia would create special military units to combat illegal mining.
Leftist guerrillas and criminal organizations in Colombia have become actively
involved in the illegal mining industry in the country, deriving even more
profits from mining than they do from drug trafficking. According to the government,
illegal mining generates more than $2.5 billion in revenue.
From the department of Putumayo, President Santos said,
“I want to announce to the country that today we are declaring war and placing
as a high priority objective illegal mining.” Santos explained that, “It is a
business that moves much more money than drug trafficking. It is a much more
dangerous enemy than what we thought, and it does much more damage than we
thought.”
In addition to the social damage, illegal mining also causes
tremendous environmental devastation. President Santos noted that the
department of Antioquia has the highest concentration of mercury in the air in
the whole world.
In addition to creating these special military units, the
Colombian executive will also propose
a package of new laws to the Colombian Congress to strengthen the states’
ability to combat illegal mining.
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