Illegal Mining and Its Impacts on Human Rights-Venezuela
In the context of the 188th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), Cristina Vollmer Burelli, SOS Orinoco Founder participated in a hearing on the impacts of illegal mining on human rights in Venezuela. Olnar Ortiz, an indigenous lawyer of the Bare people in the Venezuelan Amazon also offered his testimony.
SOS Orinoco
The Orinoco Region in Venezuela faces severe environmental challenges exacerbated by the Arco Minero plan, initiated in 2016 to exploit extensive gold, diamond, coltan, and other mineral reserves.
Over the past two decades, the Arco Minero plan, driven by a desire for new revenue sources, has resulted in catastrophic environmental and human rights abuses, with potential long-lasting and irreversible effects.
SOS Orinoco, established in 2018, aims to highlight the ongoing tragedy in the Amazonas and Orinoco regions. Deforestation and illegal mining, revealed through satellite imagery, have raised alarms about the ecological impact.
SOS Orinoco states that the Arco Minero plan, involving the smuggling of conflict minerals and direct exports to Turkey and Iran, has led to mercury contamination in rivers and human rights violations against indigenous populations, intensifying the environmental crisis in the region.
Venezuela, losing 3.2% of its tree cover in the last two decades, faces significant challenges, as environmental degradation not only affects greenhouse gas absorption but also impacts the economy.
“What is happening is a disaster – the devastation of a country is not just the ecological destruction of the Venezuelan Amazon but also a cultural calamity,” reports SOS Orinoco. It poses a high-risk threat to the region’s health, endangers national sovereignty, and violates the human rights of Venezuelans.
In the vast area of nearly 112,000 square kilometers starting from the southern shores of the Orinoco, the Arco Minero holds rich mineral resources across three states – Bolívar, Amazonas, and Delta Amacuro.
It is a privileged zone with forest reserves, national parks, protected basins, and biosphere reserves. However, these natural phenomena, protected by global resolutions, have been unable to prevent their destruction.
The Arco Minero plan, implemented to exploit minerals like gold, diamonds, and coltan, has led to widespread illegal mining, causing continuous destruction.
SOS Orinoco reports that Venezuelans and foreigners, disobeying laws and without any supervision, have taken over the land, with the government’s approval and participation.
The policy in the country has had a domino effect, with young people leaving schools or universities to work in various areas, including mining, to support their livelihoods.
Mismanagement of gold in the southern region has resulted in the disappearance of vast land and water areas. Environmental organizations like SOS Orinoco have identified 680 illegal mining sectors in 51,286 hectares, with the numbers increasing.
The destructive practices extend to protected areas like Canaima National Park, Pacana National Park, and Imataca Forest Reserve, with mining operations even near the famous Angel Falls. The consequences of this form of open-pit mining include habitat destruction, alteration of topography, and irreversible damage to the ancient soils of the region.
Venezuela, being one of the world’s ten megadiverse countries, faces the threat of extinction for 288 fauna species and endangerment for 560 flora species due to open-pit mining, which includes the use of cyanide and mercury, prohibited in many countries.
The environmental and health hazards extend to indigenous communities, such as the Pemón in Canaima and the Great Savanna, Yekuana, and Sanema in the Caura basin, with significantly elevated mercury levels in their bodies.
Additionally, the excessive export of mercury by miners contributes to further contamination, emphasizing the critical need for control and sanity in the face of this environmental crisis.
CIDH Testimony by Cristina Vollmer Burelli | SOS Orinoco Founder
Región: Impactos de la minería ilegal en los derechos humanos
“Good afternoon. I am Cristina Vollmer Burelli from Venezuela, founder of SOS Orinoco, and today I am going to talk to you about the situation in Venezuela, the business model implemented by the illegal decree of the Arco Minero that promotes and allows criminal and illegal mining that violates the rights of indigenous people, the human rights of miners, and environmental rights.
It is a model that allows Nicolás Maduro and his associates to cling to power and enrich themselves directly. Maduro has partnered with Colombian guerrillas, transnational criminal organizations, and national criminal gangs to operate and control mining in southern Venezuela.
“Unlike the oil business that requires complex infrastructure, the gold and other mineral mining business is very simple and unsophisticated. Mining, as practiced in Venezuela, only requires a monopoly on fuel, the illegal use of mercury without control, access to protected areas where mining is allowed, and facilitating the transport of machinery and mining rafts. All of this is controlled by the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, civil authorities, and the Venezuelan Mining Corporation,” Cristina Vollmer Burelli, SOS Orinoco Founder.
As we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the massacre of 16 Yanomamis at the hands of garimpeiros in Hashim, we are witnessing a new and even larger invasion of garimpeiros with the approval and partnership of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. They are invading Yanomami territories, Yekuana, Haximú itself, and the headwaters of the Orinoco River.
“An ecocide is an unlawful or wanton act committed knowing that there is a possibility, a substantial likelihood, that those acts will cause serious and widespread or long-term damage to the environment. Under this definition, it is clear that the damage to vast sectors of the Venezuelan Amazon is done knowingly, with even minimal damage likely to have long-term repercussions in the region,” Cristina Vollmer Burelli, SOS Orinoco Founder.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) could issue precautionary measures to prevent further ecological damage and irreparable harm to the environment, as well as the human right to a healthy environment. This would ensure the protection of the life and integrity of indigenous and Creole populations affected by this type of mining.”
#NuevaFotoDePerfil pic.twitter.com/ZDCrzy6BYO
— Olnar Ortiz Bare (@olnarortizBare) September 22, 2023
CIDH Testimony by Olnar Ortiz, Indigenous Lawyer | Bare People, Venezuelan Amazon
“I am Olnar Ortiz, an indigenous lawyer of the Bare people in the Venezuelan Amazon. Thanks to SOS Orinoco for giving me the opportunity to address you. As you have heard, the situation in the indigenous territories of the Amazon is grave and serious.
It is imperative to urgently develop and implement specific regulations, and for Venezuela to sign the Escazú Agreement. The systematic and serious violations against indigenous peoples and communities, as well as their leaders, are evident, public, and well-known, as demonstrated by the recent UN human rights publications on Venezuela.
In the state of Amazonas alone, due to drugs and illegal mining between 2022 and 2023, two massacres have occurred against indigenous populations: the Yanomami Parim Bé case and the Yapacana case.
This does not even include the actions of irregular armed groups operating in our territories, such as the murder of Virgilio Trujillo, which remain unpunished to this day with no serious investigation to determine those responsible.
Regarding indigenous defenders, threats, harassment, and criminalization are becoming increasingly common. For example, Nancy Herrera of the Cubeo people in the Piedra Blanca community in Yapacana, who exposed corruption by high-ranking officials involved in mining, has faced such issues.
Similarly, as a defender of indigenous peoples, I face constant threats and harassment from state officials. Therefore, the precautionary measures of protection granted by the IACHR in 2019 remain in effect.
Madam President, as an indigenous person living in the Amazon, it is my duty to report that the situation is very serious, and we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, as is much of the world. Therefore, swift action is needed to ensure that states comply with international standards for the eradication, monitoring, and punishment of those committing crimes against the environment and their territories. Thank you very much.”
The 19th hearing of the 188th regular session of the Inter-American Commission was requested by the following organizations:
Fundación para el Debido Proceso (DPLF), Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia (CEDIB), Centro Humboldt, Fundación del Río, SOS Orinoco, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA) Eca-Amarakaer, and Hutukara Associação Yanomami.
Cristina Vollmer Burelli, SOS Orinoco Founder and Olnar Ortiz, an indigenous lawyer of the Bare people in the Venezuelan Amazon were two of the many important voices in the regional hearing. We will feature them individually in upcoming articles.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed recognition and solidarity with the groups presenting on illegal mining in the region.
The purpose and objective of the hearing allowed the commission to receive important information about the patterns that favor the advancement of illegal mining in our Americas.
These patterns include links to drug trafficking, illegal logging and fishing, the seizure of indigenous lands, low standards of environmental oversight, widespread corruption of local and national authorities, and territorial control by organized crime.
In this regard, the testimonies delved into the serious violations of human rights and environmental damage resulting from illegal mining in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru, with a differentiated impact on indigenous peoples and communities, environmental defenders, women, children, adolescents, and other vulnerable groups.
Civil society had 30 minutes for their presentation. The commission had about 30 minutes for their comments, followed by final considerations.
Following all the testimonies, Civil Society requested the CIDH to take the following actions:
- We request the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, within the framework of its monitoring and promotion powers, to prepare a regional report on the impact of illegal mining and associated crimes on Human Rights.
- Fully utilize its powers to address Human Rights violations caused by illegal mining in the continent.
- Urge the states in the region that have not ratified the Minamata Convention on mercury to do so promptly and ensure that signatory states fulfill their obligations under the convention.
- Encourage the states in the region to apply inter-American standards and those of ILO Convention 169 concerning indigenous and tribal peoples.
- Integrate state obligations related to the prevention, monitoring, and punishment of illegal mining, standards of transparency and citizen participation, and protection of environmental defenders as outlined in the Escazu Agreement.
- Coordinate efforts with the OAS Multidimensional Security Secretariat, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the United Nations Environment Programme to implement multilateral commitments to combat illegal mining, mercury trafficking, and related criminal activities in the region.
- Call on the governments of the region, particularly Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela, to develop and implement specific regulations and robust public and security policies with a Human Rights perspective to monitor, sanction, and eradicate illegal mining.
- Finally, we call on the countries in the region that are part of the supply chain, whether selling, buying, processing, or using inputs or products from the mineral industry, to conduct due diligence to verify, mitigate, and eliminate their involvement in human rights violations and environmental damage.
Civil society expressed gratitude for the space and concluded its initial statement.
Watch the CIDH Session on Impact of Illegal Mining in the Region
See Relevant:
Illegal Mining and Its Impacts on Human Rights-Nicaragua
llegal Mining and Its Impacts on Human Rights-Brazil
Illegal Mining and Its Impacts on Human Rights-Bolivia
Illegal Mining and Its Impacts on Human Rights-Peru
Soledad Quartucci | CEO/Founder, Latina Republic
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