Latin America's mining boom the socio-environmental and security: Dynamics in the case of Colombia

RUSI Journal

Volumn 157, Issue 5, 2012, Pages 22-31

  Deheza, Elizabeth ^a   Ribet, Ugo ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84867946281     PISSN: 03071847     EISSN: 17440378     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03071847.2012.733099     Document Type: Article

References (83)

1. ECLAC, 'Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Trends, Progress, and Challenges in Sustainable Consumption and Production, Mining, Transport, Chemicals and Waste Management', United Nations publication LC/R.2161, April 2010, pp. 27-28.
2. Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion: Why The Poorest Countries Are Failing And What Can Be Done About It (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
3. Paul Harris, 'Gold Blossoming in Colombia', The Gold Report, www.Mining.com, 1 April 2012.
4. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia: At What Cost?', Newsletter 18, November 2011, p. 4.
5. Dan Haglund, 'Blessing or Curse? The Rise of Mineral Dependence among Low and Middle Income Countries', Oxford Policy Management Report, December 2011.
6. Jose Antonio Ocampo, 'Boom Times a Threat to Traditional Diversification', Investing in Colombia Special Report, Financial Times, 8 May 2012, p. 2.
7. The BACRIM are armed gangs involved in drug trafficking and extortion. There is a debate as to whether these are paramilitary organisations. They are composed of former paramilitaries, but do not necessarily have the same capacities or military organisation as paramilitary groups. For further information, see 'Conflicto Armado e Iniciativas de Paz en Colombia', Fundación Ideas para la Paz and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, December 2009, pp. 15-16
8. Carlos Espitia, 'Los Urabeños No Son Simples Bacrim', in 'Cartografía del Conflicto: Narcoparamilitares y Guerrilla', Punto de Encuentro (No. 58, March 2012), pp. 59-64.
9. Artisanal or informal mining refers to a traditional and partly cultural activity that communities have been practising for decades as a means to fight poverty. For more information, see Angelica Arias Ortiz, 'Las Bacrim Retan a Santos', Revista Arcanos (Vol. 15, No. 17, 2012), pp. 6-7
10. Mauricio Cardenas Santamaria, 'Hacer Frente a la Explotación Ilícita de Minerales', PNC - Periódico de la Policía Nacional de Colombia (No. 9, February 2012), p. 5
11. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia', p. 23.
12. Naomi Mapston, 'Security: Gang Rivals Reinvent Themselves as Partners in Crime', Financial Times, 8 May 2012
13. Elespectador.com, 'Minas Ilegales y Grupos Armados', map based on the report presented by the Colombian Intelligence Unit, Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) on 28 September 2011, http://static.elespectador.com/archivos/2011/10/a0719bd7b2d22dceeefb82f7ed27616d.jpg, accessed 11 September 2012.
14. Ortiz, 'Las Bacrim Retan a Santos', p. 28.
15. M Bendi, 'Mining in South America - An Overview', June 2012, http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/sa/p0005.htm, accessed 12 September 2012.
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19. In Chile, mining represents around 60 per cent of total exports and 8 per cent of its GDP. In Peru, more than 10 per cent of the total territory is dedicated to mining, which represents 50 per cent of its exports. In Brazil, mining products represent more than 50 per cent of its exports. See Fedesarrollo, 'La Minería en Colombia: Impacto Socioeconómico y Fiscal', April 2008
20. Dan Oancea, 'Mining in Brazil', Country Mine, October 2011, http://www.infomine.com/countries/SOIR/brazil/welcome.asp?i=brazil-soir-2, accessed 12 September 2012.
21. Fred McMahon and Miguel Cervantes, 'Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2011/2012', The Fraser Institute, February 2012.
22. Bill Warlick, 'Multinationals Insulated From Argentina Nationalization', Fitch Wire, Fitch Ratings, 20 April 2012, http://www.fitchratings.com/web/en/dynamic/articles/Multinationals-Insulated-From-Argentina-Nationalization.jsp, accessed 12 September 2012.
23. Carlos Serrano Bravo, 'Historia de la Minería Boliviana (Siglos XVI-XX)', December 2004.
24. Author interview with Juan Antonio Morales, a Bolivian economist and former president of the Bolivian Central Bank, 19 August 2012. See also Dan Haglund, 'Blessing or Curse?'.
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26. Philip Andrews-Speed et al., 'The Global Resource Nexus: The Struggles for Land, Energy, Food, Water, and Minerals', Transatlantic Academy, 2012, p. vii.
27. Philip Andrews-Speed et al., 'The Global Resource Nexus: The Struggles for Land, Energy, Food, Water, and Minerals', Transatlantic Academy, 2012, p. vii.
28. ECLAC, 'Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean', p. 39.
29. Supreme Decree 1308, La Paz, Bolivia, 1 August 2012.
30. Around 200 tons of mercury are released into the environment in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region per annum and an estimated 10,500 tons of mercury may have been released into natural and urban environments between 1980 and 2007. See Emily Sinnott, John Nash and Augusto de la Torre, Natural Resources in Latin America and the Caribbean: Beyond Booms and Busts? (Washington DC: The World Bank, 2010), p. 52.
31. Keith Slack, 'Peru Mining Conflicts Explode Again: Protests in Espinar', Resource Investor, 7 June 2012.
32. BBC News, 'Peru Anti-Mining Protest Leader Arrested near Cusco', 30 May 2012.
33. Álvaro Pardo, 'La Locomotora Minera Sigue Pujante, Pero el Gobierno Perdió el Año', Razonpublica.com, 18 December 2011.
34. ECLAC, 'Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean', pp. 33, 35-38.
35. Fiscalía General de la Nación, 'Nace Unidad Nacional de Fiscalías para Perseguir Delitos contra Recursos Naturales y el Medio Ambiente', 4 January 2012, http://www.fiscalia.gov.co/colombia/noticias/nace-unidadnacional-de-fiscalias-para-perseguirdelitos-contra-recursos-naturales-yel-medio-ambiente/, accessed 12 September 2012.
36. Camilo Echandía Castilla, 'Situación Actual de las FARC: Un Análisis de los Cambios en las Estrategias y la Territorialidad (1990-2011)', Fundación Ideas para la Paz (No. 13, September 2011), p. 27.
37. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has been recently praised for his efforts to portray the country as an emerging global player, despite facing a domestic disapproval rate of 49.7 per cent, according to a recent Colombian poll. See El Tiempo, 'Estudio Político Presidencial Agosto-2012', DATEXCO Company, August 2012, http://www.eltiempo.com/Multimedia/infografia/juanmanuelsantos/, accessed 5 September 2012.
38. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, 'Descripción del Comportamiento del Homicidio, 2010', p. 20, http://www.medicinalegal.gov.co/images/stories/root/FORENSIS/2010/HOMICIDIO.pdf, accessed 12 September 2012.
39. Ortiz, 'Las Bacrim Retan a Santos'.
40. Mauricio Cárdenas and Mauricio Reina, 'Mining in Colombia: Socioeconomic and Fiscal Impact', in Cuadernos de FEDESAROLLO (No. 25, April 2008), pp. xiii-xiv.
41. María Teresa Ronderos, 'La Fiebre Minera Se Apoderó de Colombia', Reportaje de investigación financiado por Fundación Ford, Centro de Investigación Periodística (CIPER), 5 September 2011.
42. See also PWC, 'Mining in the Americas', March 2012, p. 2.
43. Naomi Mapstone, 'Mining: Security Gains Against Rebels Open Up Vast Areas for Prospecting', Financial Times, 8 May 2012.
44. Mary Cecelia Bittner, 'Illegal Mining is "Cancer that Must be Removed": Santos', Colombia Reports, 23 February 2012.
45. Mapstone, 'Mining: Security Gains Against Rebels Open Up Vast Areas for Prospecting'.
46. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia', p. 3.
47. Bittner, 'Illegal Mining is "Cancer that Must be Removed": Santos'.
48. Mapstone, 'Mining: Security Gains Against Rebels Open Up Vast Areas for Prospecting'.
49. The Gold Report, 'Gold Blossoming in Colombia: Paul Harris', 1 April 2012, http://www.mining.com/2012/04/01/gold-blossoming-in-colombia-paulharris, accessed 12 September 2012.
50. PWC, 'Mining in the Americas', p. 4.
51. International Law Office, 'The New National Mining Agency Has Started to Operate', 28 May 2012, http://www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?g=f43d84cb-c1ea-47fe-80b5-3dac033e6c0e, accessed 12 September 2012.
52. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia', p. 3.
53. Sarah Kinosian, 'Illegal Mining Contaminates Water in Northern Colombia', Colombia Reports, 26 March 2012.
54. Lorraine Chan, 'Toxic Gold Rush: Helping Artisan Miners Stay Clear of Mercury', UBC Reports (Vol. 58, No. 2, February 2012), http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2012/02/01/toxic-gold-rush/, accessed 12 September 2012.
55. Leonardo González Perafán, 'Minería Ilegal y Paramilitarismo', in 'Cartografía del Conflicto: Narcoparamilitares y Guerrilla', Punto de Encuentro (No. 58, March 2012), pp. 43-48.
56. Frédéric Massé and Johanna Camargo, 'Actores Armados Ilegales y Sector Extractivo en Colombia, V Informe 2012', CITpax Colombia and Observatorio Internacional DDR - Ley de Justicia y Paz, September 2012, pp. 20-25.
57. Author interview with Alex Costa, expert on security in Colombia and former civil servant at the Ministry of Defence in Colombia, March 2012.
58. Massé and Camargo, 'Actores Armados Ilegales y Sector Extractivo en Colombia', pp. 3-5.
59. Ricardo Rocha García, 'Las Nuevas Dimensiones del Narcotráfico en Colombia', UNODC and Ministerio de Justicia y del Derecho, 2011, pp. 44-45.
60. Author interview with Alex Costa.
61. Edward Fox, 'Armed Groups Control Illegal Mines in Half of Colombia', 31 January 2012, http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/armedgroups-control-illegal-mines-in-halfof-colombia, accessed 12 September 2012.
62. Mundo Minero, 'Del Narco a la Minería Ilícita', 22 May 2012.
63. Elespectador.com, 'Minas Ilegales y Grupos Armados'
64. González Perafán, 'Mineria Ilegal y Paramilitarismo', pp. 46-47.
65. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia', p. 22.
66. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia', p. 22.
67. Defensoría del Pueblo Colombia, Defensoría Delegada para los Derechos Colectivos y del Ambiente, 'La Minería de Hecho en Colombia', December 2010, pp. 26-27, http://www.defensoria.org.co/red/anexos/publicaciones/mineriaColombia.pdf, accessed 12 September 2012.
68. Fox, 'Armed Groups Control Illegal Mines in Half of Colombia'
69. Massé and Camargo, 'Actores Armados Ilegales y Sector Extractivo en Colombia', p. 9.
70. Massé and Camargo, 'Actores Armados Ilegales y Sector Extractivo en Colombia', p. 25.
71. Debate de la Comisión Quinta, 'No Criminalizar Pequeños Mineros, Propuso Comisión Quinta', Oficina de Prensa del Senado, Bogotá, Colombia, 23 May 2012
72. González Perafán, 'Mineria Ilegal y Paramilitarismo', pp. 43-48.
73. PBI Colombia, 'Mining in Colombia', p. 3.
74. Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, 'Minería Ilegal en Colombia', March 2012, p. 1.
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78. Unidad de Planeación Minero Energética - UPME, 'Colombia País Minero: Plan Nacional para el Desarrollo Minero, Visión al Año 2019', December 2006, http://www.upme.gov.co/Docs/PNDM_2019_Final.pdf, accessed 12 September 2012.
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81. Ley de Victimas y Restitución de Tierras, Ministerio del Interior y Justicia, Colombia 2011.
82. The Economist, 'Criminals with Attitude: A Crime Mob Takes On the Government', 14 January 2012.
83. Fox, 'Armed Groups Control Illegal Mines in Half of Colombia'.