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IWGIA - THE INDIGENOUS WORLD - 2010
Mining in the Alto Caura The Caura River basin (Bolívar State) is one of the most pristine and biologically intact areas of Venezuela. It comprises 4.5 million hectares of tropical rainforest and is unique in its biological megadiversity, its cultural diversity and its high water production. Since 2006, illegal miners have been invading it in search of gold, destroying ecosystems and affecting the indigenous Ye´kuana, Sánema and Hoti communities. According to anthropologist Nalúa Silva from the National Experimental University of Guayana (UNEG), many of these miners came from Paragua (Raúl Leoni municipality) following their eviction by the government in 2006, and from Brazil following recognition of the “Raposa Serra do Sol” indigenous lands.32 The Caura River basin is covered by five environmental protection concepts, and ancestral indigenous lands that were self-demarcated some years ago although they are still awaiting the collective property title. The indigenous Kuyujani, along with representatives from environmental NGOs and UNEG, have been complaining about the displacement of indigenous communities, the destruction of ecosystems and the complicity of the soldiers who are responsible for safeguarding the area, but the national government has failed to take any real, effective or sustained measures to prevent the serious impacts on the indigenous communities and the environment.
Health The Indigenous Health Department (DSI) of the Ministry of Health is working to adapt its services and programmes to the specific needs of indigenous peoples, and significant progress is being made. And yet these people continue to be the least attended sector and continue to suffer the worst health conditions in the country.33 One important experiment has been the implementation of Services of Care and Guidance for Indigenous Peoples (SAOI) at indigenous peoples’ main referral hospitals. These services seek to improve the quality of care for indigenous peoples by means of bilingual intercultural facilitators who support the patient, mediating with the health