Mining in LATAM: Is it even possible to do ethically?

With the US about to enter a mining sector in Venezuela dominated by criminal armed groups, and in the heart of the Amazon Rain Forest, many experts are focused on profits.

But mining in Latin America has long been fraught with problems, from ecological disaster to the empowerment of non-state actors. Some communities, long ignored by the states in which they live, say the benefits of foreign investment by international conglomerates outweigh the negative consequences.

But even in the best of cases, the lions share of mining profits leave the country along with the companies running operations, and inflict a sharp environment cost.

This week we spoke with Peter Wood, a gold mining researcher in Colombia, about the details of how it all works, new markets in Venezuela, and the criminal armed groups profiting from informal mining and gold laundering across the continent.

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