The fight against illegal mining will be one of the priorities of the new executive director of the Agency for the Regulation and Control of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources (ARCERNNR), active duty colonel Luis Patricio Bonillo, appointed on May 19.
Bonilla has served for 33 years in various areas of the Armed Forces and now replaces Luis Maingón Velasco, who has held the position since August 30, 2022. According to the Minister of Energy and Mining, Fernando Santos, “it was considered appropriate to change (power) because the emphasis agency’s fight against illegal mining for several weeks”.
“Illegal mining has been declared a threat to national security in many ways. It certainly affects the environment, there is money laundering, there are a number of activities outside the law. We are looking for people who exercise irregularly in order to comply with the law. These are the expectations, that the law be implemented,” Bonilla told this newspaper.
Colonel Luis Patricio Bonilla is the new Executive Director of the Energy Regulatory Agency
According to the retired colonel, illegal mining has an impact on the country of almost 1000 million dollars, which he believes has many aspects that need to be worked on and which will be the focus of his experience as a military man and expert in national security.
In January of this year, the State Council for Public Safety (Cosepe) declared illegal mining a threat to the country’s comprehensive security and confirmed that it would “support” legal mining.
Cosepe declares illegal mining a threat to national security and will support legal mining despite warnings from Conaie
Bonilla indicates that he already has a strategy for working on the eradication of illegal mining. “It is clear to me how we will do it, information about where it works and in which provinces it affects illegal mining. We will strive to eradicate illegal mining in all aspects, always within the framework of the law,” he explained.
Profile of Bonillo
Bonilla holds a master’s degree in Hemispheric Security and Defense, and in recent years worked as a manager of World Wide Consultancy (2020-2021) and Traffic Analysis and Wireless Control (2014-2018).
Among other duties, in 2008 he was the representative of the Armed Forces Group for the preparation of an inter-institutional plan to control the evasion of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and border fuels. In 2006, he served as commander of the National Hydrocarbon System Security Unit.
He was also an advisor in the Ministry of Defense (2005-2006); member of the Center for Strategic Political Consulting of the Ministry of Defense (1999-2000). He was a professor at various military schools from 1983 to 2003 (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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