Critical Minerals and Illicit Mining

Following the U.S. military’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on Jan. 4 aboard Air Force One that Venezuela’s ‘steel’ and ‘critical minerals’ are back on the Trump administration’s agenda and that Trump ‘is going to fix it and bring it back – for the Venezuelans.’ In response, Bram Ebus, an investigator who runs the Amazon Underworld research collective, warned that Venezuela’s gold and critical‑mineral fields are already dominated by transnational crime syndicates, Colombian guerrilla groups and corrupt Venezuelan security forces, with China currently a key destination for illicit output. Ebus describes mining districts in Venezuela’s Amazon as effectively run by ‘criminal governance,’ where armed groups control movement, tax legal and illegal activity, and mete out punishments including expulsion, beatings, torture, mutilation and summary executions, with state forces often complicit. He cautions that if U.S. corporations or foreign private security firms move directly into these zones without strict safeguards and transparency, Washington could quickly become entangled in violent networks and serious human‑rights violations even as the White House talks up Venezuela’s resource ‘potential.’ The story underscores that while the administration publicly sells post‑raid Venezuela as an economic opportunity, experts on the ground say the mining sector is already dirty and dangerous, not a blank slate for U.S. investors.