On the border between Colombia and Venezuela, only a few kilometers from Colombia’s Guainía division, unlawful mining shakes the area’s financial system whereas devastating the surroundings. The absence of the federal government is apparent.According to witnesses and pictures, the areas round Yapacana Hill are stuffed with improvised billiard halls, eating places, ice cream outlets, brothels, grocery shops, clinics and even nurseries; that is all occurring underneath the strict management of Colombia’s National Liberation Army and FARC dissidents.In a 2020 research, a Venezuelan group known as SOS Orinoco revealed the large scale of the unlawful mining in Yapacana: In that yr, mining affected a complete of two,035 hectares (about 5,029 acres), an space equal to about 1,884 soccer fields that’s seen in satellite tv for pc photos.
*This report is a part of a journalistic collaboration between Mongabay Latam and Vorágine, a Colombian information supply.
Juana* appears nostalgic when she talks in regards to the work she used to do within the unlawful mines of the Yapacana Hill (or Cerro Yapacana in Spanish). These had been occasions of abundance and prosperity for her. She was by no means wanting cash. “Not like now that I’m penniless,” mentioned Juana whereas sitting outdoors of a seedy bar in Inírida, the capital of Colombia’s Guainía division.
Juana has spent 4 months working as a cleaner for a corporation, making an attempt to earn the cash she must return to Cerro Yapacana National Park within the Venezuelan state of Amazonas, about 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) from the border with Colombia. The almost-rectangular Yapacana Hill will be seen from the the Mavicure Hill (or Cerro Mavicure in Spanish), a rocky formation 170 meters (about 558 toes) excessive on the Colombian facet of the Inírida River. Here, armed teams are extracting metals. It used to take $80 and 4 hours of journey on the Orinoco River for Juana to achieve this space, the place — based on a report by the National Army of Colombia — Colombia’s National Liberation Army, dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the Armed Forces of Venezuela all work hand in hand.
This is the far japanese facet of Colombia. Anyone who visits the Yapacana Hill from Colombia should cross the Fluvial Star of Inírida, the place the Guaviare, Atabapo and Inírida rivers meet. Eventually, the water flows into the Orinoco River, which hugs the Yapacana Hill only a few miles forward.
Because the Yapacana Hill is so near the border with Guainía, all the pieces that occurs right here has an influence on the financial and social dynamics of Inírida, a municipality of 31,000 residents that spans 17,000 sq. kilometers (about 6,564 sq. miles). Inírida has very precarious safety protocols, along with different limitations. In this space, the federal government typically appears to be ineffective in containing the actions of the armed teams. Vorágine and Mongabay Latam tried to talk to a spokesperson or secretary from Guainía division, however nobody was keen to make any statements to us in regards to the border space’s uncontrolled unlawful mining. “No space dares to speak in regards to the case; everybody is aware of that unlawful mining like this occurs in Venezuela,” mentioned the Inírida mayor’s workplace of communications.
Venezuelan migrants, Indigenous folks of assorted ethnic teams from southern Colombia and different outsiders go to the mine to earn cash and return months later, based on Juana. She confirmed a number of pictures of the realm, wherein one can see a posh constructed on boards coated with tarps. Juana estimated that greater than 7,000 folks might reside there.
What are the impacts of unlawful mining and violence alongside this forgotten border between Colombia and Venezuela?
A view of the environmental devastation brought on by unlawful mining in Yapacana, 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) from the border between Colombia’s Guainía division and Venezuela.
The “paradise” of illegality
According to our witnesses and the images equipped, the areas round Yapacana Hill are stuffed with improvised billiard halls, eating places, ice cream outlets, brothels, grocery shops, clinics and even nurseries. This is all occurring underneath the strict management of Colombia’s National Liberation Army and FARC dissidents. Several witnesses claimed that males from the Venezuelan National Guard accumulate a weekly “vaccine,” or bribe, within the type of gold and cash. With this assure, mining continues with out obstacles. Yapacana is a paradise of criminal activity that has turned Colombia into the territory the place miners come to spend cash and purchase provides, equipment and the uncooked supplies they want for mining.
The evolution of environmental degradation in Yapacana. Image courtesy of Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
Vorágine and Mongabay Latam contacted the National Army of Colombia to inquire in regards to the actions which have been taken prior to now yr in opposition to unlawful mining alongside this a part of the border. According to the National Army of Colombia’s workplace of communications, “In this particular space of the nation [Guainía, on the border with Venezuela], there are not any operations in growth presently … however there are different potentialities in different elements of the nation.” Later, they added: “Along with the National Army, there are different establishments which might be dedicating their efforts to counteract the scourge.” In mid-October 2022, Vorágine and Mongabay Latam additionally requested data from the press workplace of the National Police, however there was no response.
However, the National Army of Colombia is aware of what is occurring between the armed teams and the Venezuelan authorities in Yapacana. An official report accessed by Vorágine and Mongabay Latam confirmed that the border between Colombia and Venezuela is managed by Gener García Molina, who goes by the alias “John 40.” He is an “previous guard” from the FARC who turned wealthy by drug trafficking, and now he leads the Acacio Medina Front (of FARC dissidents). The report additionally talked about there’s an settlement between this group and “the Armed Forces of Venezuela to coordinate unlawful actions within the ‘La 40’ sector of the Yapacana mine.”
Yapacana could be the largest unlawful mine within the Amazon. Its operation is feasible due to the complicity of Venezuelan authorities. The group SOS Orinoco has revealed a number of alerts that warn of the occasions within the mine.
In this area, it’s no secret that Colombia’s National Liberation Army and FARC dissidents act in tandem in Guainía: there isn’t any battle between them in contrast with the state of affairs in different areas within the nation’s inside. On Oct. 19, 2021, a truck owned by the National Army of Colombia carrying a gaggle of troopers by the streets of Inírida was attacked with a grenade. This terrorist act left two troopers useless and 9 injured. A day later, Brig. Gen. Mauricio José Zabala, the commander of the eighth Division of the National Army of Colombia, declared that two unlawful organizations — which seemed to be only one group in Guainía — had been behind this assault.
Illegal gold mining is going down round Mavicure Hill in Guainía. It principally happens alongside the Inírida River. Dredges are at all times within the space. Image courtesy of the National Parks Institute of Venezuela.
This division has develop into an enlargement space for a number of teams of dissidents. An investigation by InSight Crime mentioned that John 40 was an ally of the First Front in Colombia, which could be the largest group in an alliance of FARC dissidents by way of people and weapons. It is led by a ringleader utilizing the alias “Iván Mordisco,” whom former Colombian President Iván Duque had believed to be useless. In actuality, Mordisco continued to commit crimes.
The First Front emerged in Guaviare round 2016, and little by little, it expanded towards the southern a part of Meta division after which to Vaupés division. On maps, Guainía seemed to be the very best path to journey to Venezuela. It was on this division in August 2021 the place the Military Forces of Colombia carried out a bombing that resulted within the loss of life of a person utilizing the alias “El Mono Ferney,” who was allegedly the second-highest rating member of the “Mordisco” dissidents.
John 40 additionally seems to be an ally of the Second Marquetalia, a faction commanded by a person underneath the alias “Iván Márquez,” who can be in battle with the “Mordisco” teams in Colombia. In mid-2021, John 40 appeared in a video alongside Iván Márquez, who can be in search of refuge in Venezuela and is negotiating with the Colombian authorities throughout this time of so-called “complete peace.” These disputes and alliances are complicating the state of affairs in a rustic the place the unlawful gold business has looted land and turned areas into strategic locations for the funds of armed dissident teams. These traits are much like these of the José Daniel Pérez Front of Colombia’s National Liberation Army.
Vorágine and Mongabay Latam traveled to Guainía division, on the border with Venezuela, and gathered testimonies and paperwork that present proof as to how armed teams extract gold to promote later in Inírida. Image by José Guarnizo.
The dance of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}
In a 2020 research, a Venezuelan group known as SOS Orinoco revealed the size of the unlawful mining in Yapacana. According to their report, in that yr, a complete of two,035 ha (about 5,029 acres) had been experiencing mining exercise across the mountain. This provides as much as an space equal to about 1,884 soccer fields and is seen in satellite tv for pc photos. The doc additionally offers proof that mining is being carried out with the complicity of Venezuelan authorities.
“All Venezuelan folks already know this; no extra proof is required guilty them. We know this enterprise is large as a result of every single day, they name me to inform me that gold, diamonds and coltan are being carried into Colombian territory in automobiles [owned by] the National Guard, Bolivarian National Intelligence Service of Venezuela and the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Service Corps. All of that is confirmed, however nobody acts,” Romel Guzamana, the deputy to the National Assembly of Venezuela from the state of Amazonas, mentioned to SOS Orinoco.
The armed teams on the border have spent years incomes hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in earnings from the mines. In this area, cash flows as if there have been an financial growth. A doc from the Military Forces of Colombia, cited by the newspaper “El Tiempo,” mentioned that between 2021 and June 2022, these unlawful organizations made transactions totaling greater than $13 million in Guainía. “The researchers have their radars on the division the place they verify [that] sturdy monetary exercise by these organized armed teams has been recorded. In truth, the report mentioned that since 2014, ‘greater than $23 million has been traded in Inírida’”. And this solely refers back to the cash that left a footprint. The drawback is that on this space, gold leaves the mine and is later taken to Villavicencio and Bogotá to “authenticate it.” The report from the Public Forces that was accessed by Vorágine and Mongabay Latam acknowledged that members of the unlawful organizations deliver the gold to Inírida, then later take it to those two Colombian cities. According to the report, from there, alternative elements for the equipment utilized by the miners in Yapacana arrive within the space.
How a lot can a employee earn by working within the mines in Yapacana? Juana mentioned it depends upon the position that an individual performs within the enterprise. “If you’re employed in a retailer, they pay you an everyday wage there. We are speaking about $400 per thirty days, which might be about 11-12 grams (0.39-0.42 ounces) of gold, however when you work within the mine, extracting gold, you earn a proportion,” mentioned Juana.
One gram of gold is value roughly $35 in Yapacana. Juana mentioned she has co-workers who’ve earned greater than $6,250 in a single month. “If the machine doesn’t extract a single line of gold, it means they won’t pay you in any respect, but when the machine on the web site the place you might be extracts 100 kilograms [about 220 pounds] of gold, it means there are about 200 grams [7.05 ounces] for every staff member, relying on the employees who’re there. The value of gasoline [and] meals are deducted from that [amount]. And what stays is break up between the proprietor of the machine and the employees,” mentioned Juana.
In broad daylight, machines are digging holes within the gold mines. A personnel is arriving to excavate and grind rocks. Some employees are devoted to washing, and others fill equipment with gasoline. From reminiscence, Juana — who spent two years caught working in Yapacana — listed a number of the mines that border Yapacana Hill: “That is big; there are trails. There are [mines called] La 40, El Puerto, Mina Nueva, Caño Piedra, Cacique, Mendesaque, Caño Carne, La 24, Jerusalén, Fibral, Monterrey, Caño Jabón, Caño Diablo, Caño Grande, Caño Caimán, La Cocina, Maraya and a number of other extra.” Gold is just not solely extracted from the rocks, but additionally from the rivers, the place employees set up dredges and use mercury to separate the metals. The environmental harm is incalculable.
The devastation and irreparable environmental harm that unlawful mining continues to go away in Yapacana has penalties for your entire planet. The 2020 research by SOS Orinoco mentioned these impacts. “Because of the vulnerability and impunity in socio-environmental problems with this necessary nationwide park, the park is seen as having the best unlawful mining presence and being essentially the most affected [park] in your entire Venezuelan Amazon, even amongst all of the nations that make up the Amazon Basin by way of the extent and diploma of devastation,” based on the Political Ecology Observatory of Venezuela.
This research additionally recorded the issues of Indigenous communities round Yapacana and the pleas they’ve made to the Venezuelan authorities. The Regional Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of the State of Amazonas mentioned: “We need to emphasize that since 2015, we Indigenous organizations have been alerting President Nicolás Maduro in regards to the impacts of mining within the nation, particularly in Cerro Yapacana National Park. The mining in your entire state of Amazonas has contributed to the deforestation of enormous areas of forest, the diversion of riverbeds corresponding to [that of] the Atabapo, the contamination of waters as a consequence of mercury and different poisonous substances, the lack of biodiversity, the change in pure ecosystem cycles [and] soil degradation.”
The incontrovertible fact that this catastrophe is going on so near the border — and with the complicity of the Armed Forces of Venezuela — reveals a paradox that was made seen within the first week of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt. There, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela signed an settlement in an try to avoid wasting the Amazon. These two leaders, together with President Chan Santokhi of Suriname, took pictures and introduced they’d open a fund of $200 million per yr. This fund would lead an “Amazonian [agreement] that has the climatic steadiness of humanity as a pillar.” The pictures and this announcement distinction with the dramatic state of affairs in Yapacana.
Anyone who visits the Yapacana Hill from Colombia should cross the Fluvial Star of Inírida, the place the Guaviare, Atabapo and Inírida rivers converge. There, a group of water types that ultimately flows into the Orinoco River, which hugs the Yapacana Hill only a few miles forward. Image by José Guarnizo.
A pure park broken by armed teams
A person who belongs to the Puinave ethnic group expressed his concern over the occasions within the Indigenous communities in Puinawai National Natural Reserve, a territory wealthy with Amazonian jungles and savannas that lies within the southwest of Guainía division on the border with Brazil. This pure paradise will be accessed by way of the Inírida River and lies about 230 km (about 143 mi) away from the capital of the division.
This is likely one of the largest protected areas in Colombia, however there are presently no authorities to deal with it. The nameless man mentioned the Indigenous communities that reside on this a part of the division have been deserted, and that’s the reason he’s involved. Where the Colombian authorities is absent, it’s the armed teams which have authority.
Since 2014, there are not any officers from Colombia’s Network of National Natural Parks within the reserve. This entity is in control of regulating the use and the operations of the reserve. The absence of authorities, the remoteness of the reserve, and a scarcity of administrative infrastructure prompted the Network of National Natural Parks to declare its incapability to preserve this space, which covers elements of the land between the Inírida, Guainía and Isana rivers. Through Resolution 0490 (of Dec. 31, 2014), the entity “quickly [closed] the executive headquarters” of this reserve, which spans roughly 1,095,200 ha (about 2,706,298 acres).
The doc talked about “the prevailing public order issues within the space, in addition to unlawful mining exercise.” Later within the doc, a bleak state of affairs was uncovered: “In the realm, the sixteenth Front and the third Commission of the Acacio Medina Front of the FARC preserve a presence; [the FARC] controls the unlawful mining actions.”
The doc is an specific declaration that there, the facility is just not within the palms of the Public Forces, however within the palms of unlawful armed teams: “The present state of affairs leads us to imagine that the federal government doesn’t have management of the territory, nor has it managed to cease felony exercise within the protected space of the reserve.”
An nameless resident of the realm mentioned that the officers from Colombia’s Network of National Natural Parks haven’t but returned. “Along the facet of the Inírida River, the officers left as a result of they threatened them and they didn’t come again; that’s forgotten. That space could be very uncared for and now it has been taken over by unlawful mining. They acquired contained in the reserve,” mentioned the resident.
It is believed that about 7,000 folks may match in Yapacana, based on the witnesses consulted by Mongabay Latam and Vorágine.
This identical resident added that unlawful mining is current all through the entire division and that its influence is just not solely felt across the Inírida River, but additionally across the Atabapo and Guainía rivers, on the border with Brazil.
“The Brazilians enter there to place in dredges, and so they persuade the captains and leaders in order that they’ll start working. They additionally deliver dredges from Villavicencio and Bogotá. And it isn’t even the initiative of the Indigenous leaders, however in these communities there isn’t any work, there isn’t any cash [and] there isn’t any funding. People come and say, ‘I’ve cash; I’ll put in a dredge.’ That is what they do there,” mentioned a neighborhood supply who requested to stay nameless.
On Aug. 25, Luisz Olmedo Martínez Zamora took over the administration of Colombia’s Network of National Natural Parks. Since Sept. 27, Vorágine and Mongabay Latam have tried to acquire a response from him concerning the abandonment of the reserve and the unlawful gold mining there. Once once more — and similar to many of the authorities we consulted — there was no response. “In Puinawai, we’ve a fragile public order state of affairs. … We haven’t acquired responses from the administration on the difficulty,” mentioned the previous press officer of the Network of National Natural Parks.
In Yapacana, there usually are not solely mines. According to sources consulted for this text, within the space surrounding the Yapacana Hill, there’s a complete advanced constructed on boards. The advanced contains brothels, warehouses and even child nurseries.
Jenny Soad Rojas, the director of the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Eastern Amazon, confirmed there’s a fixed presence of dredges alongside the Inírida River. “The reality is that illicit mining within the division occurs all through all of the rivers, much less so for the Guaviare River, as a result of supplies like granite come from there, however [mining happens] all all through the remainder,” mentioned Soad Rojas. The Inírida River, for instance, is the river with the fourth-highest quantity of unlawful mining. In a research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Inírida River was discovered to have had extra unlawful mining alerts than any of the opposite 9 our bodies of water included within the research. A 2022 research by this group decided that in Puinawai National Natural Reserve, mining occurs not solely alongside the rivers, but additionally on land. “The Puinawai National Natural Reserve has the best presence of EVOA[evidence of alluvial gold exploitation] on land, with 84 hectares [about 208 acres]; this protected space represents 93 p.c of the whole [amount] detected within the Network of National Natural Parks.”
The penalties of this uncontrolled mining have already wreaked havoc, based on Soad Rojas. “The company performed research about mercury in crops, fish and sediments within the Guainía River. And we discovered [mercury] content material that exceeds the permissible limits. This makes us conscious of the environmental impacts on the riverbeds. [This is] with out considering the consequences on the forests, as a result of these folks deforest to construct mining camps,” mentioned Soad Rojas.
Soad Rojas added that mining is just not one of many ancestral actions of the Indigenous folks from this division. They usually are not those main or managing this unlawful enterprise. The members of those communities work in these mines as laborers. “This is generally as a consequence of [the fact] that there are not any extra sources of revenue; this additionally occurs due to the absence of the federal government in these communities which might be being deserted. The unfulfilled fundamental requirements are monumental, so based on them, there isn’t any different approach to survive until they mine,” mentioned Soad Rojas. She clarified that the duty of the company that she leads is strictly environmental, so she prefers to not touch upon points like mining security or laws.
The issues of some residents of Inírida and of Soad Rojas are the identical as these of Mauricio Cabrera, a guide on authorities relations and worldwide relations from WWF Colombia. “We have been very involved in regards to the excessive [amount of] mercury contamination within the rivers. [We have also been concerned] in regards to the steady improve of dredges coming from Brazil and that they enter by southern Guainía, Vaupés and Amazonas, [and] enough actions usually are not being taken in opposition to [this],” he mentioned.
The advanced a part of the difficulty, based on these sources, is that the Indigenous communities themselves are getting used to work within the unlawful mines. The case of Puinawai National Natural Reserve is essentially the most notable instance of this.
This reserve is situated within the Guiana Shield, which is likely one of the oldest geological formations on the earth and contains elements of Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana). The Guiana Shield covers 2.7 million km2 (greater than 1 million mi2) and has organic significance for your entire planet. Puinawai National Natural Reserve has particular traits; 14 distinct ecosystems will be discovered there. Part of its pure wealth is because of the Inírida, Guainía Cuiari and Isana rivers, that are precisely the place the dredges are which have been damaging the realm with out penalties.
Carlos* is a member of the Kurripaco Indigenous group who has seen how others from his space have entered this enterprise merely because of the must feed their youngsters. While sitting in a restaurant in Inírida, Carlos mentioned that in a mine known as Campo Alegre, which is within the reserve, searching for gold is the one exercise. From that small, distant place, 1kg (about 2.2 kilos) of gold will be extracted each week. This is how social conflicts come up virtually each day. On the outskirts of the Puinawai National Natural Reserve, which borders Vaupés and Brazil, there are 19 Indigenous communities which might be acknowledged by the Ministry of the Interior. The roughly 1,780 individuals who reside there, based on Carlos, are the identical Indigenous people who find themselves not formally acknowledged by the Colombian authorities. In these areas, the folks in cost are those with the weapons.
*Names modified to guard the security of those sources.
Banner picture: The environmental degradation in Cerro Yapacana National Park in Venezuela, close to the border with Colombia in Guainía Department. Image courtesy of Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
Editor’s word: This article is a part of the undertaking “The Rights of the Amazon in Sight: The Protection of Communities and Forests,” a collection of investigative reviews in regards to the state of affairs surrounding deforestation and environmental crimes in Colombia, funded by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative. Editorial choices are made on an unbiased foundation and usually are not primarily based on donor assist.
This story was reported by Mongabay’s Latam staff and first revealed right here on our Latam web site on Nov. 17, 2022.
