In the midst of political and economic turmoil in this South American country, some of the world’s most scenic and biodiverse public lands are at risk. By Kim O’Connell

An article by The SOS Orinoco Team

It has become increasingly evident that the struggle between the Pemon people and the Maduro regime during the month of February 2019 in Santa Elena de Uairén and the Venezuelan-Brazilian border was not really about stopping humanitarian aid from entering Venezuela, but rather an excuse for the regime’s (carried out by the US and Canada sanctioned Chavista governor of Bolivar State, Justo Noguera Pietri) latest power grab to control the Pemon ancestral lands, the real objective being the illegal gold mines in that region.

The Pemón People of La Gran Sabana, Bolivar State, Venezuela have been on the forefront of the struggle to allow the entry of humanitarian aid. In this remote Southern region of Venezuela, that borders with Brazil, where the indigenous peoples of Venezuela are amongst the most vulnerable and are suffering the consequences of the collapse of health, education, nutrition and security of the regime of Nicolas Maduro, Emilio Gonzalez, mayor of Santa Elena de Uairen (on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border) told Reuters that the Pemon people were unarmed but determined to let in humanitarian aid from Brazil.

The most vulnerable in the Venezuelan #humanitariancrisis are #IndigenousPeoples!

As the Maduro Regime attempts to maneuver around sanctions that are limiting its ability to produce revenues via PDVSA, they are trying to ramp up gold, diamond and coltan production, circumvent the Central Bank of Venezuela by smuggling these conflict minerals through Colombia, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao and lately direct flights to Turkey, in order to export the minerals directly to Turkey and Iran.

On September 10, 2018, briefer Marshall Billingslea, Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, U.S. Department of the Treasury made a presentation at an informal Arria-formula meeting of the Security Council that focused on the pervasive corruption in Venezuela that has led to instability and a humanitarian crisis, a key aspect of which is the current Gold Rush that is devastating the environment and indigenous peoples.

Yanomami children, Alto Ocamo, Amazonas, Venezuela
Photo ©cvb 1984
When a government deliberately stops providing essential vaccinations for the most vulnerable people such as the Yanomami putting them at risk of contracting transferable diseases such as measles, diptheria, polio that are known to decimate indigenous peoples, we need to denounce and raise our voices regarding this abuse of human rights. President Nicolas Maduro and his Minister of Health @LuisLopezPSUV have deliberately stopped vaccinating the Yanomami and they are now at tremendous risk

Thanks to cooperation with Radiant Earth Foundation, SOSOrinoco got access to and analysis of recent (2018) open data from the European Union Sentinel 2 satellites and access and analysis of high resolution images of Yapacana National Park, courtesy of satellite image ©2018 DigitalGlobe, a Maxar company, that reveal the accelerated pace of devastation and deforestation due to illegal mining inside the park.

Look at the scars left by #illegalmining – prohibited by Decree No. 269 (1989) but allowed by @NicolasMaduro & controlled by the #FARC – that destroy the #Yanomami‘s environment and threaten their livelihood.

La minería ilegal en el Edo. Bolivar y el Edo. Amazonas están convirtiendo a #Venezuela en EXPORTADORES de Malaria. Brasil reconoce el grave problema que esto representa #sosOrinoco @MPPSalud @MineaOficial @CorreodelCaroni pic.twitter.com/pvg7YYfmIe — SOS Orinoco (@SOSOrinoco) May 23, 2018 Out of control illegal mining in the states of Bolivar and Amazonas have converted Venezuela in […]

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