Maroni
In French Guiana, the phenomenon of illegal gold panning, although it has important historical antecedents, has taken on a new strength and dynamic since the early 1990s. Illegal migrants from Brazil imported the techniques and social system of gold panning developed in the Brazilian Amazon since the 1970s. Taking the Brazilian word for them, we now commonly speak of garimpeiros and the significant damage they cause to the environment and to French Guiana in general: pollution of waterways by mercury, hydrocarbons and sediments, pollution of soils by mercury and mining waste, and insecurity linked to their presence throughout the forest.
In the end, they are little-known and often considered as banditry or a mafia in public opinion, but the reality is quite different. I decided to take a closer look at who the garimpeiros are and the (more or less) hidden society they have recreated from scratch in the forest, with its own codes and services. It's a kind of pure forest capitalism, with no social or environmental regulations and a focus on very short-term profitability. But also to their ingenuity and resilience in the face of omnipresent repression by Guyana's Armed Forces. Without, however, minimizing the ecological and health catastrophe that results from their activity.
