Peruvian Indigenous leaders urge nations to halt illegal gold trade
Leaders of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the virgin forests of the Peruvian Amazon appealed on Tuesday to the USA, Switzerland, India, and Saudi Arabia not to buy "dirty," illegally mined gold, which constitutes as much as 70% of the gold exported from Peru.
The International Association for the Development of the Peruvian Selva (Aidesep) convened a conference in the country’s capital, Lima, under the slogan "Defending the Amazon from Mining Hell," where representatives of all organizations and communities from these areas adopted a protest against the presence of polluting illegal mining and the destruction of the Amazon's biodiversity.
70% of the gold exported from Peru by the state – according to current law – is exported illegally because it comes from illegally exploited mines. We appeal to Switzerland, the USA, Saudi Arabia, and India, which are buyers of this gold, to cease their activities, as they are responsible for the lives lost due to this practice (as a result of environmental pollution) of the indigenous people inhabiting these lands," stated Wilfredo Tsamash, the leader of the Awajun people inhabiting the San Martin department, in an interview with the Spanish agency EFE.
Participants in the conference, in a resolution adopted at its conclusion, accuse the country’s legislative and executive authorities of "not only not standing with the indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon on this issue but even adapting the country’s existing laws to the needs of illegal exploiters of mineral resources found in the virgin forests of the Amazon."
Aidesep announced that over the past ten years, the profits of illegal gold mines in Peru have increased elevenfold.
This increase is mainly attributed, according to Aidesep, to corruption at all levels of state power.
