Venezuela's military expels hundreds from illegal gold mine March 6, 2024

The Bolivar region is rich in gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite, quartz and coltan © Ronald PEÑA

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Venezuelan soldiers evicted more than 1,200 people, including many children, from an illegal gold mine that claimed 16 lives when it collapsed last month, the armed forces announced on Sunday.

Among them were 131 minors who had been evicted from the Bulla Loca mine in the state of Bolivar in the Amazon region, said General Domingo Hernandez Larez of the Armed Forces Operations Command in a message on X. He did not give a time frame.

The evictions would continue, as would the dismantling of illegal mining facilities in the La Paragua forest reserve.

"The protection of nature is everyone's responsibility," said Hernandez Larez.

The Bolivar region is rich in gold, diamonds, iron, bauxite, quartz and coltan. In addition to the state-owned mines, there is also a booming illegal mining industry.

Sixteen people died in the collapse of the Bulla Loca open-cast mine last month. In December last year, 12 people died in the collapse of a mine in the indigenous community of Ikabaru in the same region.

According to the non-governmental organization SOS Orinoco, at least 54 people died in 17 mining incidents in the states of Bolivar and Amazonas between 2017 and 2022.

Activists denounce the "ecocide" in the region and the exploitation of children who work for long periods without protection.

Authorities say illegal miners cut down and burned trees, contaminated the water and drilled underground, harming the environment and indigenous communities.

In July last year, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the deployment of the armed forces to crack down on a scourge he said was "destroying the Amazon of South America and Venezuela".

Since then, some 14,000 illegal miners have been expelled from the Yapacana National Park in the state of Amazonas, where large areas have been devastated by mining.

Rights activists have denounced the excessive use of force in clearing illegal mines, which also employ foreigners from Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador.

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