 "People gather at the bank of Guacara River Port while waiting for information on miners following the collapse of an illegal gold mine in La Paragua, Bolivar, Venezuela. Reuters")
More than 1,200 people, many of them minors, were evicted out of an illegal gold mine by Venezuelan army on Sunday. The mine collapsed last month, killing sixteen people.
According to a message on X, general Domingo Hernandez Larez of the military forces’ operational command, the group included 131 juveniles who had been forced to leave the Bulla Loca mine in the Bolivar state in the Amazon area. He didn’t provide a deadline.
He said that the removal of evictions and the demolition of illicit mining structures built in the La Paragua Forest Reserve were still ongoing.
“Protecting nature is everyone’s task!” said Hernandez Larez.
Rich in gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite, quartz, and coltan is the Bolivar region. In addition to public mines, there is a thriving black market for extraction.
The Bulla Loca open pit mine collapsed last month, killing sixteen workers. Twelve people perished in December of last year when a mine collapsed in the same location, near the Indigenous town of Ikabaru.
17 mining disasters in the states of Bolivar and Amazonas resulted in at least 54 deaths, according to the NGO SOS Orinoco, between 2017 and 2022.
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View AllProtesters condemn the “ecocide” occurring in the region and the exploitation of kids who toil long hours without any safety.
Authorities say illegal miners fell and burn trees, contaminate water and engage in underground drilling that is damaging to the environment and harmful to Indigenous communities.
Last July, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the deployment of the armed forces to counter a scourge he said was “destroying the Amazon of South America… and Venezuela.”
Since then, some 14,000 illegal miners have been evicted from the Yapacana National Park in Amazon state, where vast areas were devastated by mining.
Rights activists have denounced excessive use of force during evictions of illegal mines where foreigners from Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador also operate.