Amazon Gold Rush: 'Delicate Situation' for Whom, Exactly?
The Independent details the 'delicate situation' of mercury poisoning in Peru's Amazon, a direct consequence of illegal gold mining. What’s often left out is the surging demand for gold, driven partly by economic instability and the very institutions these outlets report on. When geopolitical tensions escalate, thanks to, say, endless wars funded by the US taxpayer, gold becomes a 'safe haven.'
(Funny how that works, isn't it?) This 'delicate situation' for the Amazon's Indigenous communities has been screaming for decades. Yet, only when the mercury levels are undeniable do we get a news headline. It’s almost as if the environmental destruction and human cost of resource extraction are only 'newsworthy' once they reach biblical proportions, rather than when the financial elite profit
from the underlying demand.