In Venezuela, Indigenous Struggles With Mining Are Far from over

It is Saturday night in El Playón. The Ye'kuana and Sanumá people are gathered inside the Öttö, a circular communal house, waiting for the representatives from the Venezuelan government. These people come from 24 of the 49 tribal communities located along the Caura River, a tributary of the Orinoco River in southern Venezuela, and they have been summoned for the 20th Assembly of the indigenous association Kuyujani Organization. They have already been talking for almost four days, discussing the problems that are currently affecting them within their ancestral home. More…