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.

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

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.

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.