LatinNews Daily - 04 December 2023

* Peru’s main extractive lobby, the Sociedad Nacional de Minería, Petróleo y Energía (SNMPE), has condemned a deadly attack on a gold mining company in the northern region of La Libertad. The SNMPE said that nine employees of the Peruvian mining company Poderosa were killed and 13 injured by “illegal miners and criminals” on 2 December while carrying out security work in Pataz province. According to the SNMPE, this was the latest in a string of attacks on Poderosa over the past year which had previously caused the deaths of seven people linked to the company as well as extensive damage to equipment. In a statement, the SNMPE said that “illegal miners, in alliance with powerful criminal organisations, have become a factor in citizen insecurity, overtaking drug trafficking to become the main illegal activity in Peru”. The mining and energy ministry yesterday released a statement saying it would coordinate with the interior ministry to intensify its crackdown on illegal mining, and President Dina Boluarte’s government is also facing pressure on the issue from the right-wing parties that dominate congress.