The Amazon
Venezuelan tribes protest violent mining gangs
Members of the Pemón indigenous people blocked the landing strip of Venezuela's Canaima National Park in protest of illegal miners operating on their lands.
Tag: informal mining
The Amazon
Trans-Amazon rail project strikes fear in tribes
Indigenous people and advocacy groups charge the mega-project to build a transcontinental railway through the Amazon basin would mean "genocide" for isolated tribes.
Mexico
Mexico cracks down on narco-oil
In an open acknowledgement that it cannot secure its pipeline system from plunder by criminal gangs, Mexico will no longer pump refined gasoline and diesel through the network.
The Andes
Informal miners strike in Colombia
Small-scale gold and emerald miners in Colombia launched a strike, blocking roads at several points across the central department of Antioquia to protest raids on their operations.
The Andes
Colombia: protests against illegal mining in Cauca
Hundreds of indigenous and Afro-Colombian protesters in Colombia's Cauca region marched cross-country against illegal gold mining—despite paramilitary threats.
The Amazon
Andes: repression ahead of Lima climate summit
The slaying of an indigenous leader who planned to travel from Ecuador to denounce a mining project before the Lima climate summit is the latest attack on regional ecological defenders.
Afghanistan
Afghan mining law to ‘strengthen armed groups’?
Afghanistan's new mining law is intended to boost foreign investment, but critics charge lack of transparency will allow mafias and armed gangs to control the nascent industry.
The Amazon
Gunmen threaten to assassinate Yanomami leader
Davi Kopenawa, shaman and internationally renowned spokesman for Brazil's Yanomami people, has demanded urgent police protection following a series of death threats.
The Amazon
Venezuela: Amazon indigenous protest mining law
Venezuela's Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of Amazonas (COIAM) issued a statement rejecting a government decree to expand mining in the rainforest region.
Mexico
Mexico: more narco-mineral exports seized
Mexican authorities seized a ship carrying 68,000 tons of illegal iron ore bound for China—hailed as the latest blow against the drug cartels' contraband mineral sideline.
The Andes
May Day mining disaster in Colombia
An unknown number of miners—perhaps as many as 40—were buried alive as an illegal gold mine collapsed at El Palmar, in Colombia's southern region of Cauca.
The Andes
Bolivia: three dead in miners’ protests
Three were killed as thousands of independent miners blocked highways across Bolivia to protest a pending law that would impose restrictions on their cooperatives.