Overview
- Congress’s Energy and Mines Commission approved a bill to extend the mining formalization registry (Reinfo) to December 31, 2027 by a 17–3 vote with one abstention.
- The proposal suspends the June 2025 exclusions that affected about 50,000 registrants, with limits that do not cover people convicted of illegal mining, money laundering or human trafficking, according to legislator Patricia Juárez.
- The Constitutional Court reiterated that formalization processes cannot create criminal, civil or administrative immunity for environmental offenses.
- Prime Minister Ernesto Álvarez said the Executive will veto a version that fails to differentiate artisanal and informal miners from illegal operators and may take the case to the Constitutional Court.
- President José Jerí said the government will present its formal position during the plenary debate, as miners continue protests outside Congress and critics cite poor results for Reinfo, including reported formalization rates near 2.4%.