Will Chavez Stop Gold Mining to Protect Forest Reserve?

As a supporter of most of Chavez' policies I would hope that he would do more to protect the forests and the indigenous people (aren't we all). He does listen so perhaps he'll give the boot to the various transnational gold diggers. Here's an article published today:


International mining companies earn well


Apart from the legal mining cooperatives and the illegal individual mineros, there’s a third category of miners in Las Claritas: the huge international companies which got concessions from the government. The most powerful one in Las Claritas is Crystallex, a Canadian-owned mining company. It’s not difficult to notice their land: a high fence surrounds their huge swath of land, and at the main gate, guards with helmets and riot sticks are keeping away unwanted persons, in front of a watch tower. “No pictures”, says one of them harshly, even on public soil outside of their territory. It’s clear: these mining companies are here for the money and not for anything else.

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The presence of mining companies like Crystallex and Hecla is a highly controversial issue among many NGOs and indigenous groups in Venezuela. The main reason for the controversy over their activities is the fact that the mining takes place in the Imataca Forest, a large forest reserve along the border with disputed Guyana. Though it doesn’t have the status of a national park, the area is under special administration. The Imataca forest reserve, which is bordered by the Orinoco delta in the north and the area of Las Claritas in the south, was created in 1963 and measures 3.8 million (!!!) hectares of land, which makes it roughly as big as The Netherlands. The area is rich in different wood arts, gold, diamonds, copper, bauxite, magnesium, water, genetic diversity, and energy.

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Largest gold reserves in Latin America

According to estimates, the Imataca Forest holds wood in store worth more than $6 billion. The value of the gold reserves in Imataca is even larger. The mines of Las Brisas and Las Cristinas, in the south of Imataca, are estimated to have roughly 21 million ounces of gold in store. Only the extraction of the gold in just these two mines would value more than $8 billion, depending on gold prices. The Imataca region probably holds the largest gold ore reserves in the whole of Latin America.

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New Decree 3,110 in September 2004 by Chavez

The whole issue started to become very current again in September of last year, when the Chavez government approved decree number 3,110, which includes a new “Plan of Ordinance and Regulations of Use for the Imataca Forest.” The new decree ratifies de facto what had been planned by the Caldera government. The new Management Plan, by which decree 3,110 orients itself, explicitly states: “Mining concessions which have been obtained before to entry into power of this decree, localized in the zones where mining activities are permitted, can continue to be carried out.”

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1400