Over the weekend, Peruvian newspaper El
Comercio ran a feature detailing a new practice, whereby illegal Ecuadoran
miners that operate out of the city of Zamora, near the border with Peru, will
cross over into Peruvian territory to dig up gold-bearing chunks of earth, and
then bring them back into their own country to extract the gold. The Ecuadoran
miners dig tunnels across the border and steal gold; one hundred and forty-four
tunnels crossing the border into Peru have been discovered in the jungle of
Cenepa. When Afrodita, the only legitimate mining company that operates in the
area, has called the nearby outpost of the Peruvian military, the soldiers have
refused to take any actions.
We have already talked extensively about how illegal mining
is one of the biggest problems facing the Peruvian government. This story
demonstrates just how extensive that problem is and how difficult it is to
address.
In related news, an online
Latin American military journal wrote about the cooperation between the
Peruvian and Colombian armed forces on the issue of illegal mining. According
to the article, this new bilateral collaboration is still in the phase of
drawing up a strategy for how the two countries can jointly fight the problem
of illegal mining. The Peruvian and Colombian armed forces plan to concentrate
their efforts in the Putumayo River valley.
In a separate story, El
Comercio interviewed Armando Zamora, an international hydrocarbons
consultant, who the journal claims was personally responsible for transforming
the Colombian oil industry. Zamora called on the Peruvian government to act
quickly and work to renegotiate terms with oil companies to encourage
exploration and investment in the Peruvian oil industry. Because oil prices have
fallen so dramatically, international oil companies need new incentives to
explore for oil in Peru.
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