Above Photo: Venezuelan soldiers deployed in the south of the country to combat illegal mining. Twitter/@Redi-andes.
Approximately two thousand illegal miners have been evicted from Yapacana National Park, located in the state of Amazonas, as part of the National Bolivarian Armed Force’s (FANB) Operation Autana 2023 aimed at protecting the Amazon rainforest.
“The FANB, as a whole, acts in the defense of the Amazon, of the national parks,” said Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro during the broadcast of his Con Maduro + program this week. “Do you know how many illegal miners there are in that area? More than ten thousand. We have already evicted almost two thousand.”
President Maduro explained that the illegal miners “established a district and have destroyed the entire area,” generating significant damage to the ecosystem.
The Venezuelan armed forces are launching a large-scale operation to root out illegal mining in the Yapacana national park in Amazonas state (south of the country). According to official reports, 2 thousand miners have been evictedhttps://t.co/CIPhaCDKcU
— venezuelanalysis.com (@venanalysis) July 4, 2023
“Our Bolivarian National Armed Force is making [its] presence [felt] in the territory, liberating the Venezuelan Amazon, liberating the national parks of southern Venezuela and establishing order,” said the president.
Previously, through his Twitter account @dhernandezlarez, the strategic operational commander of the FANB, General Domingo Hernández Lárez, stated that “a safe route of human evacuation is guaranteed for the immediate and voluntary eviction of all illegal inhabitants of Yapacana National Park, with due respect for human rights, due to the respect we owe to nature and the environment, and in accordance with our constitutional mandate and territorial integrity.”
In mid-June, the Venezuelan president ordered the Strategic Operational Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (CEOFANB) to intensify efforts to eradicate illegal mining in national parks and the Amazon rain-forest.
“We are fighting a battle for the defense of the deep Amazon, for the defense of the national parks,” said President Maduro. “The Bolivarian National Armed Force is fighting a battle. Thousands of soldiers and officers of our Bolivarian National Armed Force are dedicating entire days and nights.”