Illegal Mining in Venezuela
Can gold riches rescue a doomed nation?
4.2 (39)
38 mins
Discover how post-2016 economic collapse drove Maduro's regime to unleash the Orinoco Mining Arc, opening the Amazon to plunder in a bid for gold riches. Uncover the Cartel of the Suns thriving on drug routes and bribes, locking Venezuela into narcostate misery as US sanctions and opposition pressure fail to halt the elite's grip.
Ep 1:
The Promise That Became a Nightmare
Venezuela's desperate 2016 gamble on gold was meant to save a collapsing nation—instead it unleashed criminal warlords, slavery, and unspeakable violence across the Amazon.
Ep 2:
Soldiers, Cartels, and Sacred Mountains
The military sworn to stop illegal mining is running it—unmasking a government cartel and the deliberate destruction of Earth's oldest, most sacred tabletop mountains.
Ep 3:
Poisoned Rivers, Broken Peoples
A UNESCO World Heritage site crumbles as mercury poisons rivers and malaria explodes, while indigenous peoples like the Yanomami and Pemón face cultural annihilation.
Ep 4:
Blood Gold and a Lost World
Blood gold vanishes into global supply chains as geopolitics, drug cartels, and irreversible ecological ruin converge on Venezuela's dying democracy and vanishing wilderness.
Discussions (10)
Milton
Level 2 · 9 mo agoThe Cartel of the Suns is run by the parliament speaker and the interior minister. The government isn't just corrupt. It has become a criminal enterprise trafficking drugs and gold.
Cyprian
Level 5 · 9 mo agoSanctions starved them out
Wilfred
Level 7 · 9 mo agoThe army runs the cartel
