Mercury and Blood: Chronicles from the Last Frontier of Bolivian Gold That's Killing the Amazon
Madidi National Park is the gateway to the Bolivian Amazon and the most biologically diverse protected area in the world, but for years it has been a privileged destination for mining cooperatives , which, by exploiting the area's gold resources, generate huge profits for themselves, causing irreparable damage to the reserve and indigenous communities .
Gold mining in BoliviaBolivia has historically been a land rich in significant mineral resources: it holds among the world's largest deposits of lithium , silver , tin , and gold . But in recent years, due to the exponential growth in the value of the latter and the development of mechanization , it has seen an excessive expansion of gold mining cooperatives.
The underlying principle of these extraction operations is to exploit the high density of gold that accumulates in waterways, then separate it from the remaining materials. This tireless process is carried out using wooden boats ; or, in most cases, through the installation of dredges, machinery typically used for underwater mining .
Positioned along riverbanks and anchored to the shore with a thick metal cable, these devices, using a motorized pump, suck up soil from the riverbed and then separate the finest sand from the pure ore. To perform this final step, the gold is melted together with mercury , which is then evaporated, settling in the soil and water.
In Bolivia, 228 tons of mercury are released into the air every year, 200 tons of which are released in the Amazon alone. Seventy percent of this comes from the gold sector.
The intensity of what many scholars have defined as a new form of colonialism irreversibly affects the daily lives of those living near the extraction points, compromising them in all their aspects.
First, these activities cause dispossession , forcing local residents to move. Foreign companies, by signing bilateral contracts with local cooperatives (of which there are nearly 1,000 in the department of La Paz alone), gain access to the territory in exchange for a mere 20% of the total revenue . Consequently, the social fabric disintegrates and conflicts between the communities and those who work in the mining cooperatives are fueled.
All these factors lead to radical changes in production models and a consequent increase in the cost of living, which becomes almost impossible to cope with. For this reason, the affected areas experience high levels of violence , accompanied by the expansion of new forms of organized crime , such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, and child prostitution .
Added to these are the health and environmental problems , which clearly illustrate the degree of environmental degradation caused by the cooperative and gold mining sectors. Since mining occurs on riverbanks and through improper handling of mercury , these forms of activity constitute a major environmental threat to the regions in which they are developed and to the waters that flow through those territories.
The investigation on the Beni RiverAt the foot of Madidi National Park flows the Beni River , one of Bolivia's most important navigable waterways. Flowing through the town of Rurrenabaque , it extends for 1,130 kilometers from the Andes to join the Rio Madeira , a major tributary of the Amazon. The Italian 7MilaMigliaLontano team had the opportunity to cross its waters and meet with experts to document the social and environmental consequences of mining, particularly gold mining.
As the Port Authority of Rurrenabaque explains, the Bolivian Amazon is particularly sensitive to mercury contamination , both because of a high concentration of this metal in its natural form, released in greater quantities by erosion caused by other human activities, and because their aquatic systems are favorable to the transformation of mercury into methylmercury .
The admiral describes a dramatic contrast in mining practices between the protected areas near Rurrenabaque, home to indigenous peoples , and those located at the mouth of the Beni River and near Riberalta. In the latter, the vessels and machinery of private foreign cooperatives that continuously carry out the mining process are clearly visible. However, indigenous communities are equally exposed to mercury contamination, as they feed and live off what the river provides. Exposure to this chemical, even in minimal quantities, causes serious health problems and is very dangerous for the development of infants and children: unlike other toxic substances, mercury accumulates in the body and is not eliminated.
"We've been fighting against the occupation of illegal gold mines for two years," says Vicente Canare , vice president of the Central of Indigenous Peoples of La Paz (CPILAP) and representative of the indigenous peoples of the department of La Paz. "As an organization," he adds, "we've already filed a request for constitutional protection . We're waiting for the state to support us and accept this request."
According to Canare, most of the companies operate without environmental licenses , thus avoiding controls by the authorities: they represent approximately 67% of the 167 mining operations active in the region and 85% of Bolivian cooperatives.
CPILAP launched a popular action on September 8 and 9, 2023, denouncing violations of the communities' rights to self-determination and obtaining a protection concession , which established the suspension of all illegal mining activities and the operations of mining companies without environmental licenses. However, their request is still under review.
The association's leaders demand immediate solutions and intervention from the government , because "too many people are getting sick." According to studies conducted, in four of the indigenous territories under CPILAP's jurisdiction, approximately 400 people are suffering from high mercury levels and have no access to any type of medical treatment.
Furthermore, although a lot of money circulates in the areas where gold is mined, this economic effect is only temporary and does not translate into the development of other economic activities; on the contrary, it destructures the diversified local economies . "All these activities," Canare explains, "do not bring any economic assistance to the Bolivian state coffers. Indeed, the communities, reduced to extreme poverty, find themselves forced to sell their land to foreign companies at rock-bottom prices and work for them like slaves ."
Luce
