The renowned engineer Augusto Baertl speaks strongly about the illegal mining and Petroperú.
What does censorship leave? Romulo Mucho?
It’s aberrant. Without a doubt he has tried to do things right. In my opinion, he has resisted more than I would have resisted in this government. It’s degrading. I think that Minister Mucho has done what he could within a very complicated political context. The fact that they have censored it shows the power that organized crime, that illegality, has, with days left until the famous Reinfo expires and without having a new formalization system. This decision was made because he was the lone minister who opposed this extension.
Did it delay ASM Law? It was announced on July 28.
It’s not like that. Since July, Minister Mucho has been socializing the MAPE project. This project was known to different institutions, including Parliament. It cannot be said that it has been delayed. He has been asking for opinions, enriching the project, which is what should be done on such a delicate issue.
Look: Illegal mining benefits from changes at Ingemmet
How do you analyze the ASM Law?
The Executive has presented this MAPE Law in order to formalize it. I cannot guarantee that it will be effective or efficient, but at least it is an attempt. From what I know, Parliament has not presented or passed any bill referring to formalizing the informal, the illegal. Voting in favor of prolonging Reinfo without taking the trouble to see how to formalize small and artisanal mining is simply making a decision in favor of keeping organized crime rampant, managing institutions, people and consciences.
As former president of PetroperuWhat do you think about the fate of the company?
Petroperú is an equal aberration. It is seeing how the money of all Peruvians is spent and used to finance a company that is not only inefficient and ineffective, but I would say corrupt. As has been said by multiple business associations, we believe that the people who have been appointed are not the right people, neither at the board level nor at the general management level. We need technical people in the matter. We cannot continue to manage the largest company of the Peruvian State in a haphazard manner. It has immense losses. It is a nearly bankrupt company. If it weren’t for the support of the State, it would have already gone bankrupt. We need a rescue, a complete restructuring of the company.
A change with Oliver Stark was announced, but then the president backed down.
I believe that at no time has the Executive managed to listen to Mr. Oliver Stark. In May or April, Mr. Oliver Stark’s former board presented a series of measures that had to be implemented. He gave the Executive, the cabinet and the president two months so that they could think about it and give him the political support to implement them. Since they weren’t given it, they had to resign. From my point of view, there was always the desire to put Mr. Narváez. So, there is no change. On the contrary, it will have been an effort by Mucho and Arista, who timidly took out a device saying that such a thing was going to be done. But it is not being done and it is not going to be done.
How long do you estimate to live? Petroperu?
As long as the State continues to provide money, it can live for many years, but at the cost of not building more hospitals, more schools, more homes, more water and sewage. We Peruvians are subsidizing the whims of politicians.
The illegal mining has passed us. How to retrace what has been done?
Well, but that is no longer a mining issue. It is a consequence of the promotion of illegality. Little by little, crime has been taking control of the different institutions of the country’s administration. On the one hand, laws must be enforced. On the other hand, the path must be developed so that the person or entity that has not been formalized can do so. That is the work of the State. The only thing we can hope for is that the Executive fulfills its task.
He Reinfo reached its limit, despite the extension.
The problem is not the Reinfo. The real problem that the country has is the need to formalize illegality, artisanal mining and small mining. Reinfo is an attempt to formalize that has proven to be a failure. Something that has not worked cannot be extended. You have to find the mechanism to formalize. We cannot normalize the illegality, the organized crime that runs the country today. Artisanal mining is something that must be promoted. But we must encourage her to comply with certain standards. We have to help her by lowering the fence. But from there to this becoming illegal and criminal mining… For God’s sake, where are we?
PLEASE NOTE
“Look what the illegal mining “It originates in the environment, in the working conditions.”
“A new cabinet of proven, committed, capable and decent people is required here. A fundamental change. If you want to reach July 2026, you have to bring proven people.”
“There was an act of cowardice by not going to CADE. They don’t have any approach, that’s why they haven’t gone. “They don’t even have the ability to fight.”
“The left seeks chaos and impoverishment.”
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