The second round of regional presidential elections in Madre de Dios is likely to take place on December 7th. Both candidates are strong proponents of small-scale mining and have clashed with national government formalization efforts.
Of the 70,000 informal miners that began the formalization process, around 25,000 have completed the first step of the process and are eligible for eventual full legalization.
Two major police and military raids were carried out in the illegal mining zone “La Pampa,” with the goal of eradicating illegal mining from the Tambopata National Reserve buffer zone by the end of the year.
In the October 5th regional elections, none of the candidates for President of Madre de Dios surpassed the 30% threshold needed for victory, thereby forcing a second round between the top two vote-getters, both of whom oppose the government’s current strategy regarding the formalization process and major raids of illegal mine sites.
The latest key deadline (October 9) in the ongoing formalization process has passed. For this deadline, proposals for legislative modifications were due and miners were required to finish several key steps of the process (including taxpayer registration). For the former, a number of key modifications have been introduced by the national government.
The first known seizure of undocumented mercury occurred in October, marking a potentially important precedent.
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