Challenges with resolving mining conflicts in Latin America

Abstract

Despite violent protests across Latin America, policies to make mining more environmentally sound and socially acceptable remain elusive. This essay explores the factors that hinder progress in resolving mining conflicts. It describes the fiscal incentives that drive governments to promote mining, the environmental risks inherent in open pit mining, and the divisive property rights that contribute to conflict. While no mining is environmentally benign, more can be done to protect the health and livelihoods of local communities. Progress requires not only improving the technical capacity of institutions tasked with environmental monitoring but also resolving the deeply rooted social divisions in the region. Affirming the rights of local communities – nonindigenous as well as indigenous – to control zoning, water supplies and the financial benefits of mining would both better link governance to those most affected and, in many cases, reduce poverty.