On March 29, 2022, Latin American summary shared concerns about the negative impact of gold mining on the health of indigeneous communities in the Bolivian Amazon: “Dozens of indigenous families living on the banks of the Beni River have up to 27 times more mercury in their blood than is recommended, which causes multiple diseases. The communities ask for the intervention of the Government to avoid the loss of lives and ecosystems.”
“More than 60 social organizations and local civil society demanded that the Government of Luis Arce regularize this mining activity , which threatens the livelihoods of several native Amazonian peoples.
In their statement they highlighted that for several years, and with increasing intensity, "gold cooperatives, allied to ambitious private and foreign interests, have been exploiting gold in the region, an activity that includes clearing, the threatening presence of foreigners, with some local collaborators, to exploit the metal with dredges and use of mercury”, which pollutes rivers, air and land, with risks to human health and other species.
Recently, a study by the University of Cartagena, Colombia, determined that "the concentrations of mercury in the organisms of the indigenous people of the Amazon basin of the Beni River, in Bolivia, are between seven and up to 27 times higher than what is tolerated by the organism . human", reads the organization's document. Fish is at the top of the food pyramid for indigenous families. When eating contaminated meat, in several community members "they detected memory loss, tremor in the hands and sensory problems, especially in those people with high mercury contamination."
According to Alex Villca Limaco, “Law 535, on Mining, "prohibits the alliance of cooperatives mining companies with private companies, whether national or transnational. However, that is happening, at the same time cooperatives have become more widespread.
Instead, they pay 2.5% royalties to the state for the minerals they sell. “We see that the environmental liabilities cannot be compensated with the derisory benefits that the mining activity leaves behind,” said Villca, who is a spokesperson for the Commonwealth of Indigenous Communities of the Beni, Tuichi and Quiquibey rivers. Mining in Amazonian rivers “does not compensate at all for the irreversible damage that this activity causes by contaminating our livelihoods,” he commented.
And he added: "Many populations do not have access to drinking water, so they are forced to use the poisoned waters of rivers, streams and lakes."Villca showed that more studies are required to find out the level of contamination in the Beni basin, given the suspicion that there are other heavy metals , apart from mercury. In addition, "areas that were used for other economic alternatives, such as banana production cassava, or citrus, have been totally destroyed by the machinery used by the mining cooperatives,” he denounced.”
The decline in tourism due to the pandemic has had a negative impact on local ecotourism efforts, and some indigeneous community members are choosing to work for the mining companies.
According to Alex Villca - “In our country, at least 85% of mining activity, especially cooperative mining, does not comply with the procedures or regulations in force in our country." And he assured that "if the Bolivian State enforced national and international regulations, much part of the mining actors would stop exploiting gold, because they are not framed in our current regulations…(this) is not an issue that affects indigenous peoples, but the entire country. For this reason, the Plurinational State is the second largest importer of mercury in the world, with 220,000 tons per year . This situation prompted two United Nations special rapporteurs to send a letter to President Arce to receive more information on the matter.”
The Bolivian government’s plans to build megadams in this area has compounded these problems. According to Alex Villca - “We are under strong pressure from the naval military, who require us to register our small-small canoes. They demand a payment of cabotage or sailing right. For us it is something illogical, that violates our rights , because the peoples of this region have always made use of our rivers," said Villca. rights of indigenous peoples and the rights of nature," he added.”