SOSOrinoco newsletter #13

PRESS RELEASE

 Third report by SOSOrinoco on Venezuelan Amazonia 

This third report prepared by SOSOrinoco about this remote region of the Venezuelan Amazon (Alto Orinoco) is unique, due to the risk and difficulty involved in traveling to and obtaining information about Amazonas state, given the current militarization and control exercised by the Colombian guerrillas. We were able to send members of the SOSOrinoco team to interview key people who live there and in this way, obtain first-hand information. Some of the highlights of this detailed report are:

• The Alto Orinoco - Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve (RBAOC) comprises one of the geographical areas of greatest cultural diversity in the entire Amazon; Indigenous communities of 17 different ethnic groups live there.  
• As part of the Amazon, the RBAOC plays a vital role in regulating the climate of the planet, therefore, the conservation of this enormous environmental heritage is essential in the fight to avoid the catastrophic consequences of global climate change.
• It is urgent that the destruction of the RBAOC be stopped: for the conservation of the Amazon, respect for indigenous peoples, the future of life on the planet, and because of the ethical responsibility of Humanity.
• This report provides sufficient evidence and proof of the Maduro Regime's responsibility regarding the catastrophic health, medical and social situation of the RBAOC, but also obliges the reader, especially those who have assumed political responsibilities and commitments, to act. It is not just about biodiversity; It is essentially about innocent human lives, and ancestral cultures with which we have an obligation and responsibility, historical, current and transgenerational.
• The overwhelming process of social, cultural and ecological destruction, at the hands of miners and guerrilla groups eager for gold and power, with the support, active and passive, of the Venezuelan military and government, constitute an ecocide, an ethnocide and a genocide, in the process of development, which has global repercussions and that humanity cannot and should not tolerate.

Here are the links to the English and Spanish versions of the full report:

• English:  "Illegal Mining, Guerrillas & Disease: The Revolution's Legacy to the Indigenous Peoples
  of the Upper Orinoco-Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve in Venezuela's Amazonian Region"
• Spanish: "Minería illegal, guerrilla y enfermedades: el legado de la revolución a los indígenas de la Reserva de Biosfera Alto Orinoco Casiquiare, Amazonas"
• StoryMap: Clic below to see the summary of the report in our #StoryMap