Article by Cristina V. Burelli, CSIS | July 30, 2020

GENEVA (July 4, 2020)  A UN human rights report published today urges the Government of Venezuela to take immediate, concrete measures to halt and remedy the grave violations of economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights documented in the country.

World Heritage Watch – page 69: Report on Canaima World Heritage Site by SOSOrinoco A gold rush is having a negative impact on Canaima National Park (CNP), a World Heritage Site. Various studies have demonstrated the destruction of at least 521 hectares of its ecosystems It becomes necessary for UNESCO to include CNP on the […]

Report by World Heritage Watch, Page 69 report on Canaima World Heritage Site by SOSOrinoco I June 5, 2020

Downstream from Icabarú, one can see more deforested mining sites along both banks of the Icabarú, and also another settlement with an unpaved landing strip. At the confluence of the Icabarú and Caroní rivers there is a small settlement with a dirt runway for light aircraft, and one can also see mining sites located inside, as well as outside of Canaima National Park. Miners die on a regular basis as a result of being buried alive as flimsy cliffs collapse from the action of pressurized water jets ejected by the monitors used in the hydraulic mining method

Far from being a legal activity that would bring in revenue to the National Treasury, the coltan mining operations are nothing more than an activity that is totally immersed in corruption and has as its purpose the enrichment of individuals: military officers, politicians, financial backers and technocrats, most of whom are partial to the regime, and members of the Colombian guerrilla forces, who use this as a way to finance the operations of their criminal organization. At the cost of causing highly deleterious impacts on society, this activity has no purpose other than to fill the pockets of these players and further promote their other illegal operations.

In recent years there has been an increase in information pertaining to a boom in gold mining activity within Canaima National Park (CNP), a World Heritage Site (WHS). Furthermore, this situation falls within the context of a strategic policy of the current Venezuelan government that promotes mining activities over vast geographic areas, and encompasses all mining categories.