Golden ambiguity: extractivism and indigenous perspectives on gold mining in northern La Paz

Most of my life I have been the only Bolivian in most of the places where I have lived, so I am used to people not knowing that Bolivia exists or for them to have a series of misconceptions about my country. So, since I was a child, I gave myself the task to show the world that Bolivia exists and that it is a very interesting country where a lot is constantly going on. For those who do know much about Bolivia, they usually mention Evo Morales, our lithium deposits or the mines of Potosí. This research paper will focus on the effects of gold extractivism in Guanay, a municipality of northern La Paz with complex associations between Bolivian cooperatives whose members are lowland indigenous peoples foreign mining companies who use mercury for alluvial gold mining. Even though this activity is a very important part for the local indigenous peoples of Guanay, these new mining dynamics has deteriorated their territory. Therefore, many communities now struggle to find an alternative source of income since their land is no longer suitable for agriculture. However, many of them do not want extractivism to stop due to the lack of alternatives to generate income.