Colombian largest drug cartel extracting gold from protected area – governor

According
to
Díaz
–
a
retired
army
general
turned
politician
–,
the
criminals
are
not
only
taking
over
the
area
but
also
polluting
water
sources. 

“We
have
asked
the
National
Army
to
establish
a
presence
there,”
the
governor
said
during
an

interview
with
local
media.
“Now,
we
have
to
raise
people’s
awareness
so
that
they
report
any
irregular
activities
because
these
groups
start
taking
over
the
mines
and
create
deaths
and
displacements.
We
don’t
want
that.”

Díaz
also
said
he
is
committed
to
protecting
the
moor
–
known
as

páramo
in
Spanish
–
as

mining
has
been
forbidden
in
the
area
since
2011.

“As
governor,
I
have
said
that
I
will
be
the
first
defender
of
the
water
and
the
moors
in
this
department.
There
cannot
be
mining
here.
I
am
committed
to
the
promise
that
helped
me
win
the
elections,
which
focused
on
prioritizing
the
environment
in
tandem
with
human
wellbeing.”

The
Santurbán
moor
is
a
protected
area
of
the
Andes
mountains.
It
is
covered
with
subalpine
forests
above
the
continuous
tree
line
but
below
the
permanent
snow
mark,
where
water
is
naturally
stored
during
the
rainy
season
and
released
during
the
dry
season. 

It
is
also
the
area
surrounding
the
$1.2-billion

Soto
Norte
gold
project,
presented
by
the
Sociedad
Minera
de
Santander
(Minesa),
a
company
owned
by
the
government
of
Abu
Dhabi
through
its
investment
arm
Mubadala
Investment
Company.
The
proposal
was
shelved
in
2020
by
Colombia’s
National
Authority
of
Environmental
Licences,
under
the
argument
that
there
were
too
many
unanswered
questions
in
Soto
Norte’s
environmental
impact
assessment
and
follow-up
documentation
submitted
by
Minesa.

The
boundaries
of
Santurbán
also

needed
to
be
reviewed.
According
to
Colombia’s
Constitutional
Court,
there
wasn’t
a
clear
and
transparent
consultation
process
with
local
communities
when
the
boundaries
were
first
established.
Thus,
their
rights
to
a
healthy
environment
and
clean
water
could
be
at
risk
if
mining
and
similar
activities
were
allowed
in
surrounding
areas.

In
2019,
the
Ministry
of
Environment
was
tasked
with
setting
the
boundaries
but
according
to
the
Attorney
General’s
Office
and
the
Ombudsman’s
Office,
this
process
has
been
continuously
delayed
without
explanation.  

The
lack
of
proper
delimitation
paired
with
the
ban
on
industrial
mining,
has
allowed
small-scale,
generally
irregular
operations
to
sprout.