Article by Thomas Coex, AFP (Published in eNCA) I February 13, 2022

What exactly happened in Canaima on December 8-9, 2018?

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 […]

An in depth article by the Wall Street Journal discusses the content of the report presented by SOSOrinoco to International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN & UNESCO in July 2018 on the current gold mining situation in Canaima National Park: A World Heritage Site in Venezuela

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

In the initial SOS Orinoco report, published in July of 2018, describing mining activity inside Canaima National Park (CNP), a World Heritage Site (WHS) recognized by UNESCO, the authors characterized and explained this phenomenon as being a consequence of the current Venezuelan government’s political strategy of promoting mining activity amidst an economic, social and political collapse that the regime itself has created and promoted. This document is an update of that first report, where the authors endeavored to describe what has happened in CNP and what has been the institutional response from UNESCO, IUCN and the Venezuelan government itself.

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.

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.

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