Madre de Dios: A Military ‘Solution’ in Peru

In February 2019, the government of Peru launched an all-out and planned “sustained” military campaign. This was to eradicate illegal mining in the department of Madre de Dios. The raid included 1,272 police agents, 300 members of the armed forces, and 70 representatives from the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Madre de Dios borders both Brazil and Bolivia. The region is not new to interventions by law enforcement. Since 2010, local and national authorities have forcefully attempted to curb illegal and informal mining in Madre de Dios. These attempts have failed. This is mainly the criticism towards the Peruvian military’s lack of permanent presence. The Peruvian government has promised to change that now. But will this new strategy get at the root cause of the problem, or will it criminalize the wrong people?

The Gold Rush in the Amazon

• The 2008 global financial crisis pushed gold prices to new highs. This resulted in an escalated and sustained extraction by formal and non-formal entities.
  
• The issue is also of grave concern in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia.
  
• Peru has become particularly ugly. It is now the largest gold producer in Latin America and the sixth-largest in the world.
  
• An estimated 25% of Peruvian gold production originates from the illegal sector.
  
• Over 60,000 hectares of land in Madre de Dios have been destroyed by mining, peaking at 9,280 hectares in 2018.
  
• An estimated 30 to 40 tons of mercury are dumped into Madre de Dios’s environment annually; now, 78% of residents have dangerously high mercury levels in their bodies, with women of childbearing age being the most affected.
  
• Illegal mining is linked to other criminal activities, including transnational organized crime, child labour, human trafficking and land-grabbing

‘Operation Mercury’

The regional authorities have been ineffective in containing the disaster in Madre de Dios. Just a few days before the launch of the latest operation, the Governor of Madre Dios, Luis Hidalgo Okimura, said to the press that in the zone, “there is no law” and “no one, not even police, is allowed in the area without the permission of the mafia hitmen”. Following the raid in February, dubbed ‘Operation Mercury’, the Ministry of Defence declared a two-month state of emergency. The government said it was suspending civil liberties and tasking the armed forces to restore the rule of law in districts with rampant illegal mining. The operation got off to a terrible start, with two police officers and a prosecutor killed when a bus transporting security forces flipped over.

The two-pronged strategy

In the past, miners in Madre de Dios were often tipped off about government plans to destroy illegal mining camps in the jungle, allowing them to hide machinery and flee. They would then regroup once security forces left the area. As a result, two weeks after the raid, the government inaugurated the first of four planned military bases in the region. The Minister of Defence José Huerta told the press that the bases will be “highly mobile” and dedicated to eradicating illegal mining. Each base will have 100 soldiers, 50 police, and a State Prosecutor permanently stationed. For surveillance, the bases will be equipped with drones, and have access to satellites for remote imagery and a military plane for aerial footage.

The Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP), Ana María Mendieta, announced that additional stages will follow the military and police operation in coordination with multiple agencies. Just in last month’s raid alone, 37 women were rescued from traffickers. Mendieta claims the difference from past efforts is to eradicate organized crime from the region permanently. The plan is not only to rescue victims but also “to make the zone productive, changing the activities and mentalities of the people”. She further adds that the intervention “has the main objective of re-establishing authority in the zone, eradicating illegal mining that brings along with it child labour, sexual exploitation, and trafficking.

A Misguided Policy?

Critics are sceptical and say law enforcement is outmanned and underequipped. Previous governments that sent troops to destroy illegal mines in the region have failed to stop their expansion. There is also an important distinction to be made. Illegal mining considers extraction within designated protected areas, involves illicit activities, such as child labour, or uses unlawful machinery, like dredges. However, these illicit mines are not the majority in Madre de Dios. Most are informal or unregistered mines that cannot formalise a concession due to bureaucratic loops. The corporate mining lobby has also pushed against laws that could aid the artisanal sector, and governments have traditionally favoured big business. The government has a miserable record of formalization across all industries in the country, and mining is no different. The number of formalized mining concessions in Madre de Dios can be counted on a single hand.

It is very important for the government to crack down on illegal mining operations, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. However, the government should refrain from only iron-fist policies and criminalization. A practical solution to the illegal mining issue in Peru requires innovative and productive approaches. These must focus on formalising and addressing environmental protection and human rights concerns. Finally, corporate mining should not be considered a silver bullet. It should not be immune to human rights violations and environmental problems.