July 22, 2026 | The Energy Mix
Venezuela’s new mining law and the opening of its mining sector to foreign investment raise concerns that gold extracted from areas controlled by criminal organizations could be legitimized. The article explores the environmental, humanitarian, and public health impacts of mining expansion in the Orinoco Mining Arc while questioning whether recent reforms adequately address illegal mining, Indigenous rights, and ecological destruction.

July 17, 2026 | National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is expanding support for initiatives that promote transparency and accountability in the critical minerals sector across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Through partnerships with civil society organisations, journalists and democratic institutions, NED aims to expose corruption, strengthen oversight and combat illicit networks linked to the extraction of strategic resources such as lithium, cobalt and copper. The organisation highlights projects in countries including Venezuela, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Zambia as examples of efforts to improve governance and ensure mineral wealth benefits local communities rather than authoritarian regimes, criminal groups or corrupt elites.

June 23, 2026 | The Guardian
Trump boasted of assassinating Héctor Guerrero Flores but details are scarce and experts doubt it will harm drug trade.

April 10, 2026 | Mongabay
Venezuela has passed a new mining law aimed at attracting foreign investment and formalizing the extraction of gold, silver, coltan and other minerals, while promoting “ecological mining development” and including some environmental protections; however, critics argue these safeguards are too weak to address the entrenched realities of illegal mining in the Amazon, where armed groups and criminal networks drive deforestation and human rights abuses, making the law appear more like greenwashing that could legitimize and expand existing harm rather than resolve it.

April 9, 2026 | The New York Times
The move opens the country’s coveted mineral fortune up to foreign investors, the latest move that Venezuela’s leadership has taken to satisfy the Trump administration.

April 9, 2026 | Miami Herald
U.S. companies considering Venezuela’s mining sector face high risks due to a largely informal and opaque gold economy controlled by armed groups, criminal networks, and military-linked actors. Despite new U.S. policies opening the door to investment after political shifts in Caracas, weak oversight and fragmented supply chains make it difficult to avoid links to money laundering, human-rights abuses, and environmental damage. Experts warn that foreign involvement could unintentionally finance violence, legitimize illicit gold, and deepen ecological and social harm, especially in Indigenous territories, where governance is often dominated by non-state actors rather than the rule of law.

March 27, 2026 | Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
International companies are rushing to exploit Venezuela’s gold belt, but there is no clear roadmap for how they will contend with the armed groups controlling concessions. Experts warn this could force firms into a murky supply chain described as “blood gold laundering.”

March 24, 2026 | MiamiHerald
A proposed mining law in Venezuela, emerging during a fragile political transition after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, is facing strong opposition from civil society groups. They warn it could “legalize ecocide” by formalizing destructive mining practices in regions like the Orinoco Mining Arc and the Guiana Shield.

The law is criticized for weakening environmental protections, enabling human rights abuses, including child labor and forced work, and allowing greater executive control with limited oversight. As mining expands, it threatens vast areas of rainforest, Indigenous communities, and public health, raising concerns that economic recovery is being prioritised over environmental and human well-being.

March 6, 2026 | The Conversation
Open pit gold mines have spread across large areas of the Orinoco Mining Belt in recent years.

By Francisco Dallmeier, Cristina Vollmer Burelli

This op-ed argues that Venezuela’s illegal mining industry has become a major geopolitical and security threat, extending far beyond environmental destruction in the Amazon. It warns that armed groups, criminal networks, and regime insiders are profiting from illicit gold and critical minerals that flow into opaque international supply chains, undermining U.S. efforts to secure reliable sources of strategic resources. The piece calls on Washington to strengthen sanctions and enforcement against Venezuelan conflict minerals, target the networks enabling the trade, and work with regional allies to disrupt illicit mining operations and build transparent, traceable supply chains.

Read the full OpEd here.

February 25, 2026 | The Wall Street Journal
Illegal mining has reached an industrial scale in the country’s southern jungles, where the government has no control

January 20, 2026 | Mongabay
Following the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. has expressed interest in the country’s oil and minerals. But the current landscape means that a rushed investment could be disastrous for the environment, critics warn. Venezuela has an estimated 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest in the world. But decaying infrastructure and corruption make investment almost impossible, with a high risk of spills inside sensitive ecosystems. The country also has massive mineral deposits, many of them in the rainforest and on Indigenous territory. The mines are largely controlled by criminal groups, making U.S. involvement there extremely complicated, critics said.