Continuing fight against illegal mining in Venezuela
Monday, August 30, 2010

August 30, 2010, 8:36 Caracas, Aug 30 (Prensa Latina) With four months of operations in Venezuela, Caura Plan halted the advance of illegal mining on the right bank of the Orinoco River, one of the most biologically diverse areas in the planet.

The program, which rather than military action is a comprehensive initiative to combat this scourge, he managed to leave the southern state of Bolivar to more than 20 000 people engaged in illegal exploitation of gold deposits.

Henry Rangel, coordinator of the strategy of confronting the illegal activity, confirmed that through the combined actions of the military forces and other related institutions, were recovered about 30 thousand hectares in natural sites of great prominence.

In addition to the fight against practices harmful to nature, Caura Plan freed the exploitation of illegal workers that were submitted as a result of intensive tasks for riches of gold, diamonds and coltan, said in remarks to the channel Televen.

For the environment minister, Alejandro Hitcher, behind the illegal extraction of gold and other minerals are transnational mafias and local oligarchies who enslave Indians and peasants, under such an indiscriminate harvesting machinery reefs.

The project also provides for action to reverse the damage caused to the environment, primarily on the vegetation and the basins of the region, among which excel the Caroni, which serves the largest hydroelectric project in the country, and the Caura, the heart a practically virgin place where lush primary forest survives, protected forest reserve figure.

Stop desertification processes in areas where there was a significant loss of forest is a priority, as well as the preservation of streams, endangered by the use of mercury (highly polluting substance) to separate the gold from other metals.

He said there are sites like the river banks Cuyuní great tradition of mining that may harbor the economic activity under state control and sustainable methods from the environmental viewpoint.

Here, he added, the gold deposits coexist with a great biodiversity, the aim is to extract it using sophisticated methods, environmentally friendly.

The plan involved the prosecution experts, specialists from the Ministry for Environment, commune, along with officials of agriculture and land, among other sectors.

This is a comprehensive policy to prevent aggression against the territorial sovereignty and protect nature, which at times could take more than a century to recover from the damage, he said.

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