Analysis of the mining initiative in Colombia

Abstract

This paper reviews several articles related to the Mining presidential program “La Locomotora” of President Juan Manuel Santos. From these documents, an approach to the conflicting mining process in Colombia was made, while analyzing the social and environmental challenges that affect the people who move between the fascination for wealth and the inferno that is left behind that in the ditch. Following this line of thought, this research describes the Colombian mining context, the State involvement in the regulation of tittles and the multinational relationships with the government. Analyzes the effect on populations due to specific factors that have been maintained over decades. First, the lack of social sustainability at long term, as the local economy is defined by market fluctuations; secondly, the absence of an equitable distribution of royalties, due to administrative corruption; thirdly, the presence of groups outside the law controlling the business and, finally, to the permissiveness of the same State granting mining permits in protected areas such as National Parks and river sources. The conclusion reached by the text refers to recognizing the lessons left by the past. the violence to ancestral communities generates indeed, more violence and citizen resentment. The single economic goal does not create wealth, but a momentary bonanza rootless on generations to come.