LIMA, Peru — The clock has run out for an estimated 40,000 illegal gold miners who had until Saturday to legalize their status in a region of southeastern Peru where fortune-seekers have ravaged rain forests and contaminated rivers.
The government’s vow to enforce a ban on illegal mining is raising fears of bloody confrontations.
The miners have been clashing with police while intermittently blocking traffic on the commercially vital interoceanic highway that links the Pacific coast with Brazil, protesting government attempts to squeeze them out by restricting shipments of the gasoline they use for their machinery. One miner has been killed and more than 50 wounded.
Officials insist that this time they’re serious about combatting the multibillion-dollar illegal mining trade that accounts for about 20 percent of Peru’s gold exports.
“We’re not backing down even one inch,” said Daniel Urresti, the former army officer leading the task for President Ollanta Humala.
The unrest already has left the region’s cities short of food, inflating prices, and local authorities who support the miners have traveled to the capital to press for more time. They were denied an audience with Urresti and other officials.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen after the government deadline lapses. I think the violence will begin,” said Jorge Aldazabal, governor of the Madre de Dios region who has spent more than a week camped out in front of a 17th-century church to protest the crackdown and demand a solution.
Peru criminalized unpermitted mining in rivers and other protected natural zones in 2012 but repeatedly delayed implementing the law, which imposes up to 12 years in jail and fines of up to $54,000 on violators.
Now, with the government preparing to host global climate talks in December and the world’s eyes upon it, authorities insist they are determined to end the illegal mining.
