"Venezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warn" 10 April 2026

Venezuela is close to passing a law to update the country’s mining regulations and attract private investment in gold, silver, coltan and other minerals. But advocacy groups say the law may end up exacerbating deforestation and pollution in mining areas where environmental damage is already an issue.

The law reinforces state control over the country’s mineral resources while creating pathways for outside investment, allowing authorized private companies and joint ventures with the state to participate in mining operations.

Much of Venezuela’s mining occurs in the Orinoco Mining Arc, an 11.2-million-hectare (27.7-million-acre) stretch of mostly rainforest established by the Maduro regime in 2016 to increase mining and bolster a struggling national economy. Critics say regulations in the region are largely absent, and mining sites are often controlled by organized crime groups like the National Liberation Army and dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

An estimated 9,531 hectares (23,500 acres) were deforested from mining in Venezuela in 2024, according to Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program.

The legislation also includes environmental impact assessments — studies conducted before a project begins to evaluate and limit ecological damage — but doesn’t require them before granting mining concessions or other contracts.

It also mentions prior consultation with Indigenous communities, a process in which governments consult residents about proposed projects, but does not include free, prior and informed consent, a stronger international standard that allows Indigenous peoples to approve or reject projects affecting their lands.

The bill also doesn’t include demarcation of ancestral land for Indigenous communities, critics said.