Peru's Nazca Lines face mining threat after protected area slashed
LIMA - Peru's government has significantly reduced the protected area around its famed Nazca Lines, a move critics and archaeologists fear could leave the ancient geoglyphs vulnerable to hundreds of nearby informal mining operations.
Peru's Culture Ministry last week slashed the protected zone from 5,600 to 3,200 square kilometers, attributing the move to topographical and archaeological studies that more precisely demarcated areas with "real patrimonial value."
The Nazca Lines, located about 400 km (250 miles) south of Lima, are over 800 giant desert etchings of animals, plants and geometric figures created more than 1,500 years ago. UNESCO declared them a World Heritage site in 1994.minist
According to data from the Energy and Mines ministry, 362 small-scale gold miners operate in the Nazca district as part of a program to regularize their status. Authorities have previously conducted operations against illegal mining in the area.
"The main threats to the Nazca Lines are informal mining operations in the surroundings and even within the protected area," Pieter Van Dalen, head of Peru's archaeologists' association, told Reuters. He called the reduction "very regrettable," challenging the justification that the original area was too large to control.
With gold prices near record highs, police and industry sources allege that the government program to regularize small-scale mining, known as REINFO, is rife with irregularities and is often exploited by illegal miners, sometimes in collusion with criminal gangs.
The REINFO program is set to expire at the end of this year, with Congress and the administration scrambling to work on a replacement scheme which closes operating loopholes. Small-scale miners had previously protested ahead of an earlier deadline, arguing they would have little time to regularize their activities.
The government estimates illegal mining in Peru generates more than $3 billion annually, surpassing drug trafficking revenue.
Energy and Mines Minister Jorge Montero acknowledged on Tuesday that small-scale miners operate in Nazca. He said the government is "evaluating how this (reduction) impacts the status of small-scale and artisanal mining working in the zone that was formerly part of Nazca's (protected area) and now is not."
Peru's gold exports amounted to $15.5 billion in 2024, up from $11 billion the prior year. Around 40% of Peru's gold exports are estimated to come from illegal sources, according to industry data and Peru's financial regulator. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
32 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Slovenia calls on EU to negate US sanctions on ICC
BRUSSELS/THE HAGUE - The EU gave its backing on Friday to the International Criminal Court after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges, and EU member Slovenia said it would push Brussels to use its power to ensure the U.S. sanctions could not be enforced in Europe. "The ICC holds perpetrators of the world's gravest crimes to account and gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure. We will always stand for global justice and the respect of international law," European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on social media platform X. Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, which represents national governments of the 27 member states, called the court "a cornerstone of international justice" and said its independence and integrity must be protected. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on four judges at the ICC in retaliation for the war tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. order names Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. Slovenia called for the European Union to use its blocking statute, which lets the EU ban European companies from complying with U.S. sanctions that Brussels deems unlawful. The power has been used in the past to prevent Washington from banning European trade with Cuba and Iran. "Due to the inclusion of a citizen of an EU member state on the sanctions list, Slovenia will propose the immediate activation of the blocking act," Slovenia's foreign ministry said in a post on social media site X late on Thursday. ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane had urged the EU already in March this year to bring the ICC into the scope of the blocking statute. The new sanctions have been imposed at a difficult time for the ICC, which is already reeling from earlier U.S. sanctions against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who last month stepped aside temporarily amid a United Nations investigation into alleged sexual misconduct. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
32 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Fugitive ponzi scheme boss assumed dead may be alive, London police say
Anthony Constantinou stole at least £70 million (S$122 million) from investors he lured with the promise of risk free returns. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH LONDON – The fugitive boss of a bogus London FX firm convicted as the mastermind behind a Ponzi-style investment scheme was thought to have died in Mexico while on the run, but London police are not so sure. Anthony Constantinou stole at least £70 million (S$122 million) from investors he lured with the promise of risk free returns, and was sentenced to 14 years in prison in his absence. News outlets including UK tabloid The Sun and Miami-based website OffshoreAlert reported that Constantinou died of a heart attack in July 2024 while in Guadalajara, Mexico. A death certificate has been filed in Mexico and seen by the City of London Police, but investigators remain unconvinced that Constantinou has actually died, according to lawyers at a court hearing on June 5. They have evidence of Constantinou's cremation within 24 hours of his death, but some of the documents reviewed contain inaccuracies, including that Constantinou's mother was Mexican. He is known to be of Greek-Cypriot heritage. 'There remains an active search for his whereabouts,' prosecution lawyer David Durose said in court. 'If there were more legitimate grounds to believe that the defendant may have died the Crown would be looking more carefully at it.' Constantinou had no legal representation at the hearing. The police want to recover some of the investor cash that was lost in the scheme and asked the judge to make an order that would help them seize assets. So far recoveries have been minimal, despite Constantinou enjoying a lavish lifestyle, with money being traced through a number of offshore jurisdictions. Constantinou was sentenced in his absence after he disappeared weeks into his trial in 2023. A warrant for his arrest was issued shortly after. Weeks after he disappeared, he was arrested in Bulgaria for carrying fake identification documents, but for unknown reasons, he was let go. His firm, CWM, lured in victims with false promises of generous returns on risk-free foreign exchange market transactions and lavish perks. Operating out of an office in the City of London's Heron Tower, he enticed investors from late 2013 by boasting of generous returns on allegedly risk-free foreign exchange market transactions, for a minimum investment of £100,000. Client funds were also used to boost Constantinou's lifestyle including his £2.5 million wedding in Santorini, the court heard. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Explainer-Border tensions: What's behind the row between Thailand and Cambodia?
BANGKOK - Tension has been rising between Thailand and Cambodia following the killing of a Cambodian soldier in May during a brief exchange of gunfire at a disputed border area between the two Southeast Asian neighbours. WHERE DOES THE DISPUTE ORIGINATE? Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points along their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which was first mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony. That map, which Thailand later contested, was based on an agreement that the border would be demarcated along the natural watershed line between the two countries. In 2000, the two countries agreed to establish a Joint Border Commission to peacefully address overlapping claims, but little progress has been made towards settling disputes. Claims over ownership of historical sites have raised nationalist tension between the two countries, notably in 2003 when rioters torched the Thai embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh over an alleged remark by a Thai celebrity questioning jurisdiction over Cambodia's World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat temple. WHAT WERE PREVIOUS FLASHPOINTS? An 11th century Hindu temple called Preah Vihear, or Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, has been at the heart of the dispute for decades, with both Bangkok and Phnom Penh claiming historical ownership. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but Thailand has continued to lay claim to the surrounding land. Tension escalated in 2008 after Cambodia attempted to list the Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a weeklong exchange of artillery in 2011. Two years later, Cambodia sought interpretation of the 1962 verdict and the ICJ again ruled in its favour, saying the land around the temple was also part of Cambodia and ordering Thai troops to withdraw. WHAT'S BEHIND RECENT TROUBLES? Despite the historic rivalry, the current governments of Thailand and Cambodia enjoy warm ties, partly due to the close relationship between their influential former leaders, Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia's Hun Sen, whose daughter and son respectively are now the respective prime ministers in their countries. Thaksin and Hun Sen also remain active in politics. But nationalist sentiment has risen in Thailand after conservatives last year questioned the government's plan to negotiate with Cambodia to jointly explore energy resources in undemarcated maritime areas, warning such a move could risk Thailand losing the island of Koh Kood in the Gulf of Thailand. Tensions also rose in February when a group of Cambodians escorted by troops sang their national anthem at another ancient Hindu temple that both countries claim, Ta Moan Thom, before being stopped by Thai soldiers. The issue is a problem for Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, whose government is facing multiple challenges on the domestic front, including a stuttering economy facing steep U.S. tariffs. Thailand's military, however, has ramped up the rhetoric with statements that have contrasted with the government's conciliatory tone, expressing readiness for a "high-level operation" if sovereignty comes under threat. Paetongtarn later echoed the military's position but said a peaceful resolution of the disputes was Thailand's priority. The mixed messaging underlines the troubled history between the billionaire Shinawatra family and the royalist military, which toppled its governments in 2006 and 2014. HOW IS THE ISSUE BEING RESOLVED? After the May 28 clash, both countries quickly promised to ease tension, prevent more conflict and seek dialogue via their joint border commission at a meeting planned for June 14. The neighbours have issued diplomatically worded statements committing to peace while vowing to protect sovereignty, but their militaries have been mobilising near the border, raising concerns about another flare-up. Cambodia, meanwhile, said existing mechanisms were not working and it planned to refer disputes in four border areas to the ICJ to settle "unresolved and sensitive" issues that it said could escalate tensions. Thailand has not recognised the ICJ's rulings on the row and wants to settle it bilaterally. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
