Strike spurs debate in Peru over illegal mining

Last week, the strike continued in the Madre de Dios region of Peru protesting laws against illegal mining in the country, arguing that the laws violate the informal miners’ labor rights. Protestors totally shut down the cities in the region and blockaded important highways linking Peru to neighboring Brazil.

Peruvian Minister of the Environment Manuel Pulgar-Vidal insisted that Peru will not give in to the protestors, and argued that the protesters are just looking for permission to continue to engage in criminal activity including illegal mining. He said, “What they are asking for is total freedom to engage in illicit activities, and we cannot allow this.”

Pulgar-Vidal, speaking directly to the miners, said that although illegal mining might bring immediate economic benefit, those profits would be short-lived. He added that, moreover, the Peruvian government would continue its fight against illegal mining.

On a related note, Peruvian business journal Gestión spoke with Hugo Santa María, an outside expert on the Peruvian economy and the country’s mining sector. Gestión believes that the Peruvian mining sector alone has been propping up the broader Peruvian economy, and it is important to reactivate investment in the sector and restart the large mining projects, which have been shut down.

Santa María called on the central Peruvian government to get involved. He argued, “We cannot think that this is a problem of companies and neighbors, as it is a problem with the fact that the national law is not respected. We see how projects are licensed, authorized, and with everything in order are stopped and no one does anything.”