In Las Claritas, the heart of Venezuela’s mining region, cracks began to appear in the alliance between organized crime, political power, and security forces. A military operation targeting mines controlled by illegal armed groups, followed by the U.S. announcement of the alleged killing of Tren de Aragua leader “Niño Guerrero,” signals an attempt to reconfigure power in southern Venezuela, a strategic region due to its vast gold reserves and its role in the new negotiations between Caracas and Washington.
Tag: Illegal mining
Armed groups threaten Indigenous lands in southern Venezuela
In Venezuela’s southern Amazon region, Pemón Indigenous communities are caught between encroaching armed groups and illegal gold miners.
Dredges: Gold mining spurs crime & corruption on Brazil-Colombia border
Miners dredging millions of dollars in gold from Brazil’s Puruê River devastate the environment and attract armed groups.
Welcome to the Amazon Underworld
The Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, is also a source and transit point for illegally extracted jungle resources and narcotics. As criminal economies expand, violence and deforestation worsen
Gold, not potassium: the real interest of mining on indigenous lands
Forty three percent of all mining requests on the indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon lands are for gold extraction, an InfoAmazonia data analysis reveals. In several of these targeted areas, satellite images show that there is gold mining already taking place without authorization.
New study suggests that mercury contamination is widespread among residents of the Amazon
Although living 186 miles away from the area along the Tapajós River where illegal mining is concentrated, Santarém’s inhabitants are at high risk of mercury poisoning.
Every person in three indigenous Munduruku villages in Pará is contaminated by mercury from wildcat mining
Studies by Fiocruz show that 60% of the indigenous people of the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land have this toxic metal in their bodies above the limit tolerated by the WHO. Mining in indigenous lands has grown by almost 500% in a decade.
Global demand for manganese puts Kayapó Indigenous land under pressure
Amazônia Minada project finds unusual rise in demand for manganese in 2020, when it became the second most requested on indigenous lands – just after gold. Some of the richest manganese deposits in the world are in southeast Pará, overlapping with the territories of the Kayapó, the most affected by recent records in mining requests. Illegal mining has increased and Indigenous people denounce mining on their territories.
Potash: Canadian mining giant rides roughshod over Amazon communities
Potássio do Brasil failed to properly consult Autazes’ communities about the impacts of a $2 billion potash project, our investigation shows.
Anglo American, eyeing copper on protected indigenous land, failed to consult Amazonian community
British mining giant Anglo American made copper mining research applications on the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory, in the Brazilian Amazon, without consulting them.