Venezuelan leader calls for enhanced protection of Amazon from illegal mining

Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, has demanded increased protection for the Venezuelan Amazon against the environmental threats and damages caused by illegal mining activities in the region.

On Monday night, Maduro instructed the National Bolivarian Armed Forces to intensify and reinforce their efforts to eliminate illegal mining groups from Venezuelan territories, expressing regret for the damage that these activities have inflicted on the nation’s forest reserves.

“Venezuela is fighting daily to protect, defend, and cleanse the Venezuelan Amazon of all illegal mining, which has wreaked havoc on national parks,” stressed the president during a state television broadcast.

Maduro directed the military personnel engaged in actions against illegal mining to further progress against such activities and ensure control over the affected areas “to advance towards recovery and reforestation.”

“We must continue the battle to defend all that is ours,” the president emphasized, urging local media outlets to highlight the issue due to its significant ecological and territorial control impacts.

In this regard, Maduro affirmed that this harmful and illicit activity “we cannot and will not allow.”

He appealed to the citizens of his country to support the government and armed forces in their fight “for our forests, our national parks, and our Amazon.”