Link to article: Goldmining having big impact on indigenous Amazon communities
In communities across the Amazon, more and more gold miners are threatening the rights of Indigenous people living on protected reserves.
As a result of Covid-19, gold prices have risen 35% this year alone, driving half a million miners into the Amazon region to capitalize on abundant gold veins within. In some countries, like Brazil, the government encourages these miners (though most mine illegally) and promises to legalize mining on indigenous reserves.
In countries where the government makes deals with mining companies, those companies still mine illegally. They violate agreements with the government and use illegal practices that have maximum impact on the environment and pollute the reserves they mine on.
Governments in the Amazon region have been inadequate at protecting the rights of their indigenous citizens. It’s their responsibility to keep illegal mining operations out of reserves, and to minimize the impact of legal operations. Making it so that companies can mine in a reserve is a terrible failing, and creates more pollutants that harm those living within.
Knowing that the prices of gold are rising exponentially, it would be much wiser to limit the gold that can be exported, to make the price rise even more. This would increase tariffs for the government and minimize the harm done to the lands in the Basin.
The fact that companies are blatantly going around agreements set with governments is just another example of how the governments aren’t effective, and how they don’t really care to do anything about it. Because those companies make government officials rich, they don’t look twice at any illegal operations that might be going on. As long as companies pay their tariffs and don’t allow media to expose them, it isn’t something for officials to worry about.