Indigenous leaders in the Ecuadorian Amazon declared the province of Napo in a “state of emergency” on Friday. They demand that the area be protected from the misdeeds of illegal mining activity, particularly in the region of the Yutzupina community where the government has been carrying out a tough control operation against illegal miners for a week.
With our correspondent in Quito, Eric Sanson
Hundreds of police and soldiers deployed in Yutzupina discovered camouflaged in the Amazonian forest more than a hundred bulldozers and diggers. For months, these machines have transformed the small river of Jatunyacu into a lunar landscape, heavily contaminated by mercury and the chemicals used by gold diggers, an offense among many others according to the Minister of the Interior, Alexandra Vela.
” Human trafficking has been detected in the mines, including undocumented migrants as well as the laundering of narco dollars and child and adolescent labor “, she said.
President of the original Quijos nationality, Lourdes Jipa demands that justice be done. “ It is necessary to investigate and find the persons in charge who gave the exploitation permits “, she says. The president of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Napo, Rocio Cerda is not optimistic. ” It is a vicious circle because the local authorities are complicit. They warn illegal miners of illegal mining operations to make the machines disappear “, she assures.
A fear shared by the president of the prosecution Diana Salazar. ” The system is permeable to corruption. It is known that many officials responsible for control are part of the criminal gangs “, she laments.
While illegal mining operations have been halted for the time being in Yutzupino, they continue 24 hours a day a few kilometers away, notably in Santa Rosa, for the time being with complete impunity.
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