Análisis de los efectos ambientales, económicos y sociales de la minería ilegal en Colombia 2000 – 2014

Abstract

The following work will present to the readers the origin of the illegal mining in Colombia during the period of time between the years 2000 to 2014; the main metals and non-metals that are the product of inadequate exploitation causing effects on the environment, society and economy. The environmental and economic crisis in Colombia has been characterized mainly by the lack of regulation of natural resources, illegal mining has become the input for financing the war in Colombia, and armed groups have made this activity their source of income for their criminal acts. The Colombian state through the approval of laws such as the Mining Code in 2001 has given free way for national and international companies to exploit the Colombian soil and subsoil in search of minerals, thus causing the destruction of ecosystems and the violation of The rights of the workers who render their services to these companies. Mining in Colombia legal or illegal generates social inequality, growing misery for families who had their livelihood through agricultural activity, displacement of communities on their land, violence, loss of culture, massacres caused by armed groups (ELN, FARC, Bacrim and other groups outside the law), in the service of companies that want to take over land rich in gold; The destruction of ecosystems, contamination of soils and water due to the use of chemicals and heavy metals such as mercury; Mining activity has caused the greatest threat to aquatic ecosystems and the species that are within them, the presence of the generation of infertile land for agricultural production.