The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (Fanb) destroyed illegal mining materials in the state of Amazonas, bordering Brazil and Colombia, reported yesterday the strategic operational commander of the military institution, Domingo Hernández Lárez.
Through Instagram, the military chief indicated that during patrol work, the Fanb found and destroyed these materials and equipment used for illegal mining, which remained hidden in the vegetation of a sector of the Atabapo municipality, in an area adjacent to the Carida indigenous community in the Bulla Loca sector.
In this place, he explained, 400 liters of gasoline, three water suction motors, 50 meters of high-pressure hose, among other materials that were “incinerated on site,” were found.
Hernández Lárez recalled that “predation of the environment in illegal mining activities, prohibited by the Venezuelan State, in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Criminal Law, violating the legal system and national security and defense.”
Said procedure was notified to the Public Ministry.
Last Thursday, Hernández Lárez reported that the Fanb destroyed another illegal mining camp in Amazonas, also in an area bordering an indigenous community.
The military official indicated that at the aforementioned site, also located in a sector of Atabapo, another 400 liters of gasoline, 200 liters of diesel, three hydraulic motors and an electrical plant were seized.
According to the environmental NGO Provita, the Venezuelan Amazon, which includes, in addition to Amazonas, the states of Bolívar and Delta Amacuro, which are home to great biodiversity and is “rich in natural, cultural and mineral resources”, where there are also “around 2.3 million people, including the largest indigenous population” in the country.
