Peru election shows no appetite to tackle illegal mines

Peruvians are heading to the polls to elect a new president and Congress, but illegal mining, a major driver of deforestation and mercury pollution, has received little attention during the campaign despite its spread deep into the Amazon rainforest and indigenous territories.

Experts warn the gap reflects a broader failure to confront what has become the country’s largest illicit economy, with huge consequences for the environment, public health and indigenous communities.

“Political parties do not understand that illegal mining has become the country’s main criminal activity and the one that mobilizes the most money,” said environmental lawyer César Ipenza.

“Either there is ignorance about what this represents for the country, or in some cases the parties are already part of this economy.”

According to estimates from the Peruvian Institute of Economics, illegal mining generated more than US$11.5 billion ($16.3 billion) in revenue and exported over 100 tonnes of gold in 2025; this rivaled the official sector and surpassed drug trafficking.

Proposals by some political candidates, including former ministers and technocratic candidates such as Jorge Nieto and Alfonso López Chau, include measures such as gold traceability, financial intelligence and protection for environmental defenders, but they are fragmented and fall short of a comprehensive strategy.

Others, including candidates from influential conservative and populist parties such as Keiko Fujimori, Rafael López Aliaga, and César Acuña, focus on security, economic growth, or extractive development without directly addressing illegal mining or its links to corruption and territorial control in the Amazon.

In some cases – including those of Ricardo Belmont and Carlos Álvarez, both media figures turned political candidates – the plans ignore the issue entirely.

“Illegal mining and illicit economies are not prioritized in government plans,” said Magaly Ávila, director of environmental governance at Proetica, a Peruvian anti-corruption group, noting that about 64 percent of party platforms fail to meaningfully address the issue, but only about five percent do so “clearly and unambiguously.”

A March analysis by the Peruvian Observatory on Illegal Mining reinforces these concerns, finding that only 12 of 36 registered political parties offered specific proposals, while others offered only general statements without concrete measures or did not address the issue at all.

Although Peruvian authorities have previously announced operations and strategies to combat illegal mining, experts say implementation remains limited.

The Associated Press contacted several government agencies for comment on the issue of illegal mining and indigenous protection but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Peruvian lawmakers have repeatedly expanded the temporary registration system that allows informal miners to continue operating while they seek formalization; Critics of the system say it has been widely abused and has helped expand illegal mining.

At the same time, recent legislative changes have weakened the capacity of prosecutors and judges to pursue organized crime, including illegal mining networks, according to rights groups.

Analysts say the measures reflect political pressure from small-scale miners who have staged protests to demand looser regulations, complicating efforts to tighten them.

Julia Urrunaga, Peru program director at the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), said the protests appear to be highly organized and indicate that more powerful actors are at play behind the scenes.

Illegal mining has grown rapidly in recent years, fueled by gold prices rising from around US$4,500 ($6,372) to US$5,000 ($7,080) per ounce; This makes even small amounts of gold very valuable.

Once concentrated in regions such as Madre de Dios, the activity has spread to other parts of the Amazon and beyond.

“The price of gold has reached historic highs, which has clearly led to the expansion of illegal mining,” Ipenza said.

“The state does not have the capacity to respond to or sustain this activity.”

Illegal mining operations often rely on mercury to extract gold, polluting rivers and entering the food chain through fish.

“In Amazonian river communities, 50 percent to 70 percent of the diet consists of fish,” said Mariano Castro, Peru’s former deputy environment minister.

“So exposure increases exponentially, and mercury is extremely toxic with serious neurological effects.”

Environmental and health experts warn that pollution in some areas already exceeds safety standards and poses long-term risks.

Ipenza said the expected expansion in the Amazon “will bring pollution, transnational criminal groups, and direct impacts on indigenous and indigenous peoples.”

Illegal mining already “puts our health, biodiversity and way of life at risk,” said Tabea Casique, a board member of AIDESEP, Peru’s largest indigenous organization.

“Many political parties do not take this issue into account or offer concrete proposals,” he said.

Castro, the former deputy minister, called the state’s efforts “inadequate” and said lawmakers had also weakened legal tools to prosecute illegal mining, including reducing penalties and limiting the ability to treat such operations as organized crime.

Gaps in control allow illegally mined gold to enter legal supply chains, often through processing facilities where it is laundered.

Ipenza called on the government to better control small-scale processing facilities and ensure stronger coordination between state institutions, including customs, financial intelligence units and prosecutors, to track gold flows and detect illegal activities.

Analysts say weak traceability systems are a central vulnerability.

“There is no real way to monitor mining production in Peru,” EIA’s Urrunaga said.

“The authorities have fragmented information, but no system to tie it together and seemingly no political will.”

“We are talking about more than $12 billion ($17 billion) in illegal gold exports,” he added.

“How can this happen with almost complete immunity?”

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