This investigation exposes how the Maduro regime’s attempts to control Venezuela’s mining heartland in the state of Bolívar has led to criminal chaos, as guerrilla groups, heavily armed gangs and corrupt state elements battle over the country’s gold.
Investigation Chapters
The Governors, the Gang and the War for Bolívar’s Gold
On November 5, 2019, threatening pamphlets appeared on the streets of El Callao, a mining town in Venezuela’s eastern state of Bolívar.
Metal Hands and Rubber Feet: Colombian Guerrillas and Venezuelan Gold
Armed men ambushed a group of gold miners near the Corre Gente mine in the municipality of Sifontes, near to Venezuela’s border with Guyana.
‘The Rebel of the South’: Rise of the R Organization
At around 11 p.m. on April 6, 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Solís was returning to the military base he commanded near the town of Tumeremo in the eastern Venezuela state of Bolívar.
