Peru election: Indigenous federation warns illegal mining crisis is missing from campaign

Peru’s largest Indigenous organisation has warned that illegal gold mining is expanding deeper into the Amazon while major political parties contesting the country’s presidential election fail to offer credible plans to stop it.

Peruvians voted on Sunday to elect a new president and Congress, but illegal mining (linked to deforestation and mercury pollution) has drawn little sustained focus in campaign platforms even as it spreads into Indigenous territories, according to environmental lawyers and anti-corruption analysts.

“Political parties don’t understand that illegal mining has become the country’s main criminal activity and the one that moves the most money” environmental lawyer César Ipenza said. He argued the lack of attention reflects either “ignorance about what this represents for the country — or, in some cases, parties are already part of this economy.”

Peru’s Institute of Economics has projected illegal mining generated more than US$11.5 billion in 2025 and more than 100 tonnes of gold exports, making it comparable in scale to the formal sector and larger than drug trafficking. Analysts say rising gold prices (reported at around US$4,500 to US$5,000 per ounce) have pushed more actors into the trade and encouraged expansion beyond traditional hotspots such as Madre de Dios.

The public health risks are already visible in river communities where fish is central to diet and culture. “In Amazonian river communities, between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of the diet is fish” former environment vice minister Mariano Castro said, warning mercury exposure can rise quickly because the metal accumulates through the food chain and causes serious neurological harm.

For AIDESEP, the national federation representing Amazonian Indigenous peoples, the issue is about survival and sovereignty. Tabea Casique, a board member of AIDESEP, said: “Most political parties are not taking this problem into account or presenting concrete proposals.”

Experts say the challenge is not only enforcement but weak traceability that allows illegally mined gold to be laundered through processing plants and exported through legal channels. An early Ipsos Peru exit poll on Sunday showed right-leaning candidate Keiko Fujimori leading with 16.6 per cent, with a run-off election on 7 June likely. Indigenous leaders say whoever advances will inherit an illegal mining economy that has outgrown piecemeal responses and a crisis already reshaping the Amazon.