From Landlords to Mine Lords

Abstract

To attract national and international capital toward mining exploitation, the Colombian State adopted regulations and policy measures to hand over, freely and almost at no cost, the nation's wealth in non-renewable natural resources (other than hydrocarbons) to investors. The Mining Code, the regulation governing this economic activity, seriously altered the foundations of national institutions on matters such as property rights, economic equality, and free competition, and even municipal authority, an essential pillar of the democratic structure. Another determining factor in mining is the country's geology, which must be taken into account before its particularities and vulnerabilities catch us by surprise for having ignored them. This article examines some of the provisions of Law 685 of 2001 and other regulations adopted by governments, concluding that they do not represent the national interest but rather private interests, given the inadequate treatment they give both to institutions and to the geological characteristics of Colombian territory. It therefore calls for reform, as these issues will be on the national agenda in 2013.