Venezuela: Over 20 Fatalities Following Gold Mine Collapse

Facts

• An illegal gold mine collapsed in the jungles of the Venezuelan state of Bolivar, with one official stating that 23 bodies had been recovered from the open pit known as Bulla Loca.¹
• Following the fatal collapse, residents from the nearby town of La Paragua voiced frustration over what they called a slow response from the government.²
• According to the state's Secretary of Citizen Security, those injured were being transported to a hospital 460 miles (740 km) to a hospital in the capital of Bolivar — a state that is rich in gold, diamonds, iron, and other resources¹
• Following declining revenue from its once-dominant oil industry — often attributed to management issues as well as US sanctions against Pres. Nicolas Maduro's regime — the government began developing large mining zones across central Venezuela in 2016.³
• Illegal mineral mining, often controlled by criminal groups, has grown throughout that time frame, stretching as far as the Canaima National Park on the Venezuela-Brazil border — about 40 miles (64 km) from La Paragua.⁴
• Due to the impoverishment of cities, millions of Venezuelans are emigrating en mass out of urban hubs and toward these mining regions with the hope of financial reward.³

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Associated Press, ³FOX News and ⁴CNN.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Human Rights Watch. Nicolas Maduro's government has left Venezuelans no other choice than to travel to rural Bolivar and risk their lives in the dangerous illegal mining industry. Government officials — who are supposed to be cracking down on this criminal enterprise — are ignoring and even participating in these abusive operations. The government should be protecting its people from such horrors, not aiding their criminal abusers.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Truthout. While Maduro has struggled to cope with falling oil revenue, the reason behind this failing economy is due to US interventions in Venezuelan elections as well as sanctions on its oil industry. For decades now, the US foreign policy establishment has knee-capped every populist politician whose agenda was to democratize government and industry, which is why the people have now been forced into poverty and thus illegal means of making an income.

Predictions