Here’s the latest from Buriticá, here’s your translation (your humble scribe doing the honours):
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The government of Antioquia, with the support of police and the army, closed down 16 (illegal) gold mines in Buritica (Western Antioquia).Enrique Olano Asuad, secretary of mining in the Antioquia government, said that the situation in Buritica is delicate because mining there is deeply involved with crime, specifically with organized criminal groups and paramilitary groups that have infiltrated the business.“What we want to do is the preserve the community life of the mining community (of Buritica). We are working with Continental Gold to develop a model of formalization of mining, including contracts with co-operatives that work, not like those in previous occasions which failed.”Olano added that the evictions, that they were “trying to develop on a voluntary basis with miners”, was urgent for the risk of rockfalls that could cause a landslide which could end in tragedy.Meanwhile, the secretary of the regional government, Victoria Ramirez said that the evictions had been pacific.“At the moment we’re only working in the Lebron mine. Some 300 families live around that mine and were looking for them to leave the sector voluntarily, she said.