THE EFFECTS OF ILLEGAL GOLD MINING IN THE YAPACANA NATIONAL PARK (CERRO), VENEZUELA

Cristiana Harless, Kendall McElwee, Lavinia Ansalone, Martina Guerrero, OSINT-RDT Team

Alessandro Portolano, Editor; Jennifer Loy, Chief Editor

March 30, 2026

Cerro Yapacana, Amazonas State, Venezuela^[1]

Key judgments  

The continuation of illegal gold mining will likely lead to prolonged environmental destruction, as well as human rights abuses against local and Indigenous populations. Criminals control illegal gold mining in Venezuela’s Amazonas state, undermining the government’s legitimacy, disrupting local populations, and contributing to deforestation while profiting from illicit financial flows.^[2] The volume of illegal mining degrades environmental and humanitarian conditions and promotes transnational crime in Venezuela, while also affecting neighboring countries due to the relationship between criminal groups, corrupt military, and political figures.^[3] This study analyzes terrain and operational changes within Yapacana National Park in Amazonas between 2014 and 2020. The team analyzed the area using geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) tools, such as Google Earth, and secondary sources, providing a clear perspective on the location and progression of illegal mining and its associated environmental impacts.

The effects of illegal gold mining in Yapacana National Park (Cerro), Venezuela

• Region and focus of the study: This study examines the expansion of illegal gold mining in Venezuela’s southernmost state, Amazonas, and how this activity increases environmental damage, illegal trafficking, guerrilla and armed groups' violence against local communities, and military interventions. The profitability of illegal gold mining will likely lead to continued environmental destruction, including deforestation and water pollution, as well as human rights abuses against local and Indigenous populations.

• Investigative Focus: Southern Venezuela is a mineral-rich area, particularly for coltan, bauxite, and gold.^[4] Non-state armed actors, including  the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), securitize the mining locations, leveraging the Yapacana National Park, Amazonas, to illegally extract minerals and rare earths.^[5] Comparing satellite imagery from 2014 with  2020 shows red-tinted waterways, suggesting mercury contamination as well as scattered patches of open land due to deforestation. Guerrilla groups victimize indigenous communities by forcing  the men to work in the mines and exploiting women and children.^[6]

• Affected Points:

Cerro Yapacana, Yapacana National Park, December, 2014^[7]

Cerro Yapacana, Yapacana National Park, December, 2020^[8]

• Pattern between affected points: 

  • Terrain changes: The 2014 image shows Yapacana National Park covered in dense Amazonian vegetation with the Orinoco River in the bottom left corner (area A). A few small, scattered brown spots are already present. The Tepui (a table-top mountain highlighted as area F) is almost intact at the center of the image. The 2020 image reveals significant changes in forest cover and land use. Brown spots of exposed soil are spread widely across the western and northern regions (areas B, C, and D).

  • Physical changes: Compared to the 2014 image, the 2020 image shows a combination of deforestation and mining activity in the areas surrounding the Tepui, particularly in areas B, C, D, and E, consistent with open-pit mining operations. Small white dots are also visible, very likely corresponding to the mining camps and makeshift settlements documented in secondary sources as a result of the growing illegal operations in the area. Area E also shows additional structures, suggesting an operational expansion.

  • Operational changes: Observable deforestation alongside the construction of settlement areas between 2014 and 2020 suggests a significant increase in the scale of mining operations across Yapacana National Park. The 2020 image shows no signs of reforestation or land recovery, almost certainly confirming the continuity of mining operations and the lack of oversight throughout the period.

Secondary sources

The continued resource exploitation of Yapacana National Park will very likely exacerbate the ongoing environmental and humanitarian crisis, while further enabling smuggling networks controlled by non-state armed groups. Illegal mining in the Yapacana National Park benefited former President Maduro’s regime since 2016 and will very likely continue to benefit the current President Nancy Rodriguez. Since 2016, President Maduro’s government benefitted financially from illegal mining in Yapacana National Park and these operations will very likely continue under President Nancy Rodriguez given that they continue to be lucrative. Environmental damage  will very likely continue including biodiversity loss, additional deforestation on top of the 1,537 hectares of land already cleared in the park’s southwestern section, and mercury contamination of waterways, poisoning wildlife and crops.

In this context, persistent illegal mining has significant consequences for human security. Armed groups force indigenous men to work in illegal mines in unsafe conditions; threatening them with bodily punishment, including severe harm such as limb mutilation. These impacts are further compounded by pre-existing vulnerabilities of the indigenous community, including structural poverty, limited access to healthcare and state absence. Women are sex trafficked, resulting in increased rates of HIV and AIDS in the region.^[9] Mercury poisoning contributes to major health issues, damaging the brain and kidneys, potentially resulting in birth defects. Additional issues such as malnutrition are exacerbated by the consumption of mercury-poisoned fish and animals, while the spread of malaria is facilitated by the informal living conditions in makeshift mining camps.^[10]

ELN, FARC, and other non-state armed groups gain revenue and influence through illegal mining and transnational smuggling from Venezuela to Colombia and Brazil.^[11] In 2020, 60 percent of ELN's income and 50 percent of FARC’s came from illegal mining.^[12] In 2021, the OECD reported an annual average revenue coming from illegal mining in Venezuela of $2 billion for the previous five years. In 2023 alone, the total estimated revenue was $4.8 billion.^[13] These non-state armed actors, alongside criminal organizations such as the Colombian Tren de Aragua gang, operate in coordination with corrupt state officials and the armed forces; smuggling minerals from Yapacana to Colombia.^[14] Profits from illegal gold mining are laundered through several illicit and quasi-legal mechanisms, including fake documentation, bribery, front companies, regulatory export loopholes, and using individuals with legitimate authorization to enter the lawful market. ^[15] 

For the past decade, Maduro’s regime was directly and indirectly involved in the illegal mining business, employing state-owned enterprises to source minerals, such as Minerven and Compañía Anónima Militar para las Industrias Mineras, Petrolíferas y de Gas (CAMIMPEG). These entities illegally acquired the extracted resources and traded them through formal channels with countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and China.^[16] State-owned enterprises remain intact despite Maduro’s fall.  After American rapprochement with Venezuela, an agreement was reached from March 2026 between Minerven and Trafigura to export up to 1000 kg of gold to the US market.^[17] In parallel, President Nancy Rodriguez announced a 30% increase in mining activities for 2026, including iron, bauxite, gold, copper, kaolin, dolomite, coltan, and other rare earths, alongside a restructuring of the sector through the Organic Mining Bill, opening the sector to foreign investment.^[18] This signals US interest in securing both rare earth imports and reducing China’s presence, who has historically dominated the processing of Venezuela's critical raw materials.  The risk for investors lies in potential exposure to accusations of terrorist funding, given the ELN’s central role  in Venezuela’s illegal mining sector.^[19] It is likely that US firms  will not directly intervene in the extraction business, but will rather import and refine minerals in the US. Open involvement with the ELN and other malign actors could incur reputation risk and public allegations of financing terrorism. At the same time, restructuring the illegal mining business will likely require direct government intervention, including military control over mining areas, strict  transportation oversight, fuel distribution and mining equipment, rather than purely regulatory and bureaucratic reform. There is a roughly even chance that the ELN, FARC, and other Colombian guerrilla groups currently controlling these activities, will exploit the power vacuum and maintain control.

Conclusion

Illegal Mining will very likely continue to expand in Venezuela unless the government takes long-term, actionable steps to restrict mining and cross-border smuggling. Gold mining is a main contributor to deforestation and contaminated waterways in Venezuela’s southern states. This study uses GEOINT to examine the changes in the ecosystem in Yapacana National Park (Cerro), Amazonas State, demonstrating the impact of illegal mining on local communities. Access to more timely imagery would enable a deeper study of current developments in illegal mining practices and environmental damages

---

[1] Cerro Yapacana, via Google Earth, created by CTG member

[2] The Price of Gold: The Impacts of Illegal Mining on Indigenous Communities in Venezuela and Brazil, CSIS, https://features.csis.org/the-price-of-gold/index.html

[3] Illegal Mining in Venezuela: Death and Devastation in the Amazonas and Orinoco Regions, CSIS, April 2020 https://www.csis.org/analysis/illegal-mining-venezuela-death-and-devastation-amazonas-and-orinoco-regions

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid

[7] Cerro Yapacana, Yapacana National Park via Google Earth

[8] Cerro Yapacana Yapacana National Park via Google Earth, created by CTG member

[9] Illegal Mining in Venezuela: Death and Devastation in the Amazonas and Orinoco Regions, CSIS, April 2020, https://www.csis.org/analysis/illegal-mining-venezuela-death-and-devastation-amazonas-and-orinoco-regions

[10] The Price of Gold: The Impacts of Illegal Mining on Indigenous Communities in Venezuela and Brazil, CSIS, 2024, https://features.csis.org/the-price-of-gold/index.html

[11] Report to Congress on The State-Sponsored Extraction and Sale of Gold from Venezuela's Orinoco Mining Arc, and from National Reserves in Venezuela such as Canaima National Park, Department of State, 2024, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Report-2-Gold-Mining-006067-Accessible-8.19.2024.pdf

[12] Illegal Mining in Venezuela: Death and Devastation in the Amazonas and Orinoco Regions, CSIS, April 2020, https://www.csis.org/analysis/illegal-mining-venezuela-death-and-devastation-amazonas-and-orinoco-region

[13] Report to Congress on The State-Sponsored Extraction and Sale of Gold from Venezuela's Orinoco Mining Arc, and from National Reserves in Venezuela such as Canaima National Park, Department of State, 2024, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Report-2-Gold-Mining-006067-Accessible-8.19.2024.pdf

[14] Ibid

[15] Illicit Mining: Threats to U.S. National Security and International Human Rights, FBI Speeches and Testimony, December 2019,https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches-and-testimony/illicit-mining-threats-to-us-national-security-and-international-human-rights-120519#:~:text=TCOs%20use%20often%2Dwitting%20U.S.,legitimate%20authorization%20to%20sell%20gold

[16] Report to Congress on The State-Sponsored Extraction and Sale of Gold from Venezuela's Orinoco Mining Arc, and from National Reserves in Venezuela such as Canaima National Park, Department of State, 2024, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Report-2-Gold-Mining-006067-Accessible-8.19.2024.pdf

[17] Trafigura, Venezuelan mining firm sign deal for up to 1,000 kg of gold, Axios reports, Reuters, March 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trafigura-venezuelan-mining-firm-sign-deal-up-1000-kg-gold-axios-reports-2026-03-05/

[18] Venezuela opened the mining market to foreign capital with a reform promoted by Washington, Infobae, March 2026, https://www.infobae.com/venezuela/2026/03/10/venezuela-abrio-el-mercado-minero-al-capital-extranjero-con-una-reforma-impulsada-por-washington/ (Translated by Google)

[19] How Trump’s capture of Maduro will boost Venezuela’s mineral underworld, Dialogue Earth, March 2026, https://dialogue.earth/en/justice/how-trumps-capture-of-maduro-will-boost-venezuelas-mineral-underworld/