The Daily Journal – Environmental organization SOS Orinoco warned on Thursday about a new illegal mining operation inside Canaima National Park, which UNESCO recognizes as a World Heritage Site.
According to the report, the mining site covers 5.8 hectares at the confluence of the Carrao and Caroní rivers, across from Playa Linda in Bolívar state.
The group said Pemón chiefs from Zone 2 of the park are driving the activity, allegedly with the complicity of political and military authorities, fueling deep divisions within the Indigenous communities themselves.
The NGO warned that the use of mercury in the gold extraction process poses one of the greatest environmental risks. River currents can carry the heavy metal up to 100 kilometers downstream, while mining sediment threatens operations at the Guri hydroelectric power plant, a key facility for Venezuela’s electricity supply.
SOS Orinoco added that mining has degraded more than 1,800 hectares inside the park and that 49 dredges remain in active operation along the Caroní River, all within a protected area.
The organization also recalled that the Venezuelan government has repeatedly postponed UNESCO’s pending monitoring mission to the site. “Canaima cannot wait any longer,” it stated.
Bolívar state, where the park lies, forms part of the so-called Orinoco Mining Belt, an area spanning more than 111,000 square kilometers that Venezuela opened to mining in 2016. Last March, the United States issued a license allowing U.S. companies to trade in Venezuelan gold. SOS Orinoco argues that the measure effectively gives a free pass to “ecocide” and money laundering in the Venezuelan Amazon.
With information from EFE.
