Nature Under Threat in Ecuador as Gold Miners Target National Park
An Amazon conservation initiative has detected a rapid growth in illegal gold mining sites at a natural park and ecological…
Mass Graves in Venezuela Connected to Disappearances in Illegal Mining Hub
The discovery of three mass graves in Venezuela’s eastern state of Bolívar points to how sinister the increase in disappearances…
Illegal Mining Spreads to Furthest Reaches of Amazon in Ecuador
Police operations in Ecuador this year have uncovered shocking levels of environmental damage caused by illegal mining in the far-flung…
Lake Titicaca: A Smuggler’s Paradise in Bolivia and Peru
Lake Titicaca, nestled high in the Andean mountains between Bolivia and Peru, has been many things to many people. The…
Corruption, Cocaine, and Gold: Interview With Suriname’s President Santokhi
Suriname, South America’s smallest country, is facing multiple criminal challenges. It is a cocaine transit route to Europe, an illegal…
Could Venezuelan Military Finally Bring Bolívar’s Illegal Gold Miners to Heel?
The Venezuelan government has placed small-scale miners and rogue mining gangs in its crosshairs, as shown by a major military…
Legal Frameworks to Protect the Amazon Are Being Sorely Tested
Environmental crime thrives across the Amazon as a result of low state resilience. Some efforts have been made to combat…
Corruption: The Common Source of Environmental Crime in the Amazon
Corruption facilitates environmental crime across Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, and Suriname. Entrepreneurial criminal networks are propped up by legal actors,…
Beneath The Surface of Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon
As gold prices have skyrocketed, a boom in mining across the Amazon Basin has flourished, leaving a deep environmental footprint.…
Fueling Forest Loss: Motors of Deforestation in the Amazon
The Amazon Basin is covered by nearly eight million square kilometers of tropical forest, which equate to an area more…