As Washington Eyes Venezuela’s Minerals, the Amazon’s Most Vulnerable Peoples Must Be Protected
Venezuela · OPINION
Key Facts
—Oil agreement: NABEP receives 100-year concessions over 17 Venezuelan oil fields with proven reserves of about 65 billion barrels; the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital holds a 35% equity stake. White House fact sheet, 31 August 2026; New York Times.
—Uncontacted peoples: Venezuela’s Amazon is home to uncontacted communities of four Indigenous peoples — the Jödi/Hoti, Uwottüja/Piaroa, Yanomami and Eñepá/Panare. Their total number may run into the thousands. Waymoutheri research.
—Legal gap: Venezuela has no specific legislation protecting Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, according to Minority Rights Group International.
—Existing pressure: Illegal gold mining has brought organized criminal groups into Indigenous territories, contaminating rivers with mercury and spreading disease — documented by Indigenous organizations and human rights groups.
The US-Venezuela oil deal has put the country’s vast mineral wealth on Washington’s map. Deep in the Amazon, the Indigenous peoples who have chosen isolation have the most to lose.
The Trump Administration’s new oil deal with Venezuela marks the latest step in Washington’s push to tap the country’s vast natural resources. According to the New York Times
The US pursuit of Venezuela’s minerals, however, could further jeopardize the survival of some of the planet’s most vulnerable people. Deep in Venezuela’s Amazon region live Indigenous communities that have deliberately chosen to avoid contact with the outside world. According to research by Venezuelan organization Waymoutheri, uncontacted populations belong to four Indigenous peoples: the Jödi/Hoti, Uwottüja/Piaroa, Yanomami and Eñepá/Panare. The total uncontacted population among these peoples may number in the thousands. Mining in or near their territories could expose them to disease, violence, environmental devastation and, ultimately, genocide.
If the United States intends to support future mining investment in Venezuela, ensuring the protection of these communities’ lands must be a prerequisite.
Why Isolation Is a Survival Strategy
The decision of uncontacted peoples to avoid sustained contact is a conscious strategy for survival. Across the Americas, Indigenous communities have experienced centuries of displacement, enslavement, epidemics and violence following European colonization. For some groups, isolation became the only effective means of preserving their lives, lands and cultures.
International human rights standards increasingly recognize their right to remain isolated. Governments have a duty not only to refrain from actions that threaten these peoples but also to protect the forests on which their survival depends. Mining poses one of the greatest threats to that survival.
What Industrial Mining Brings
Industrial mining brings roads, airstrips, power lines, camps, security forces and thousands of workers into previously remote forests. Even projects located outside Indigenous territories often open surrounding areas to illegal miners, loggers, land grabbers and armed groups.
Experience across the Amazon shows what follows. Roads built for extractive industries have triggered waves of settlement and deforestation that governments later struggled to contain. Illegal mining has polluted rivers with mercury, destroyed fisheries and spread diseases into isolated regions.
For peoples with little or no immunity to common illnesses such as influenza, measles or COVID-19, even incidental contact can prove devastating.
Venezuela’s Amazon Is Already Under Pressure
Venezuela‘s Amazon is already under severe pressure. The country lacks adequate legal protections for Indigenous peoples and does not even officially recognize the existence of uncontacted peoples. Years of illegal gold mining have brought organized criminal groups into Indigenous territories while contaminating rivers and fueling violence, human trafficking and labor exploitation. Indigenous organizations, church leaders and international human rights groups have documented the profound human and environmental costs of this lawlessness. A new wave of large-scale mining—if pursued without strong safeguards—could dramatically intensify those pressures.
Congress and the administration must guarantee that any U.S. involvement in mining in Venezuela will be conditional on the full respect of the rights of Indigenous peoples. This includes a blanket ban on support for mining in the territories of uncontacted peoples, given the deadly impacts it would bring and given that their right to remain uncontacted means they cannot be approached or consulted about mining activity. If those safeguards are not in place before the next mining boom begins, the opportunity to ensure these communities can survive and thrive may be lost forever.
About the Author
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Keith Slack is Director of Survival International USA, where he coordinates the organization’s advocacy and campaigning work in the United States in support of Indigenous peoples worldwide. Disclosure: Keith Slack is Director of Survival International USA, an organization that campaigns in support of Indigenous peoples. The views expressed in this article are his own. The Rio Times independently fact-checked the factual claims in this article against the sources listed below before publication. |
Sources
- nytimes.com — New York Times, Venezuela oil fields coverage
- whitehouse.gov — White House fact sheet, 31 August 2026
- survivalinternational.org — Survival International USA
- iwgia.org — International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
- mongabay.com — Mongabay LatAm, isolated Indigenous groups in Venezuela
- minorityrights.org — Minority Rights Group International
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