Argentine MPs approved a bill early yesterday promoted by President Javier Milei that authorizes mining in ecologically sensitive areas of glaciers and permafrost, and has outraged environmentalists.
The amendment to the so-called Glacier Law, which was already approved by the Senate in February, would make it easier to mine for metals such as copper, lithium and silver in frozen parts of the Andes mountains.
The Chamber of Deputies, Argentina's lower house of Comgress, approved the amendment with 137 votes in favor, 111 against and three abstenations after nearly 12 hours of debate.
Environmentalists say the reforms will weaken protections for crucial water sources.
Thousands of people took part in a demonstration on April 8 outside parliament, marked by isolated skirmishes with police.
The passage of the amendment is a new coup for Milei, who pushed through looser labor laws in February despite repeated street protests.
There are nearly 17,000 glaciers or rock glaciers, a mix of rock and ice, in Argentina, according to a 2018 inventory.
In the northwest of the country, where mining activity is concentrated, glacial reserves have shrunk by 17 percent in the last decade, mainly due to climate change, according to the Argentine Institute of Snow Science, Glaciology and Environmental Sciences.
Milei, a free-market radical who does not believe in man-made climate change, argues the bill is necessary to attract large-scale mining projects.
