In Bolívar Square of El Callao, Bolívar State, there is music, joy and jubilation. The town celebrates the birth of Lucía Isidora Agnes, “la Negra Isidora”, and the municipality’s “Calypso Day”. It is Wednesday, August 17th, and the town is experiencing a 15-hour blackout.
By La Patilla
Aug 22, 2022
The event in the busiest local square seems like a momentary bubble for those who suffer from the failures of all basic services in El Callao, a town devastated by mining, subdued by armed groups and sunk by the state’s oblivion.
While the “comparsas” (clubs/groups) walk through the streets of the town with genuine joy, all businesses enduring a blackout without internet or piped water. The streets are dilapidated and full of potholes. El Callao is one of the 11 municipalities of Bolívar State, one of the richest regions in minerals in Venezuela.
Given this scenario, dancing calypso and remembering their traditions is the way in which El Callao people face the harsh crisis they are suffering. They do not forget their ordeal or evade the crisis, but they have decided not to let their culture and traditions be taken away, which they have kept alive for 100 years and which has been recognized worldwide as Intangible Natural Heritage of Humanity, as recognized by UNESCO in 2016.
With Gold, but Without Light
Mining alliances backed by Chavismo devastate gold areas and collapse power lines in El Callao
In El Callao there is a lot of gold under the ground, but it seems that this mineral is not exploited for the benefit of the inhabitants of the town. That is what the residents and even the local authorities say, who confirmed that the situation of the blackouts is critical and is leading dozens of commercial establishments to go bankrupt.
According to statistics from the Mayor’s Office of El Callao, mining companies or alliances based in the area extract, on an average, three tons of gold per month. The figure offered by the city council is just an estimate, because it is not known for sure how much gold comes out of Bolívar’s mines. Under Maduro’s regime, opacity and little transparency prevail on the subject.
“El Callao is an economic emporium, from here they get tons of gold, and it bothers us to see its broken streets, without water. This town should have better conditions. What these companies want is to get the gold out and take it quickly,” said the highest civil authority in the jurisdiction.
Coromoto Lugo is the only mayor who frequently speaks out openly about the problems in the mining areas. In the other municipalities, Chavismo controls the mayor’s offices and maintains secrecy about any irregularity.
But why does the power go out so often in El Callao? Mayor Lugo explained that the gold mining companies attached their processing plants to the power lines that supply electricity to the communities and the central area. This has brought about the collapse of the local substation causing extensive blackouts.
Mining alliances backed by Chavismo devastate gold areas and collapse power lines in El Callao
Commerce Losses
Mining alliances backed by Chavismo devastate gold areas and collapse power lines in El Callao
The problem is felt more harshly in the neighborhoods, where citizens do not have emergency power plants and live in precarious conditions far from the glitter of gold and the ostentatious life of those who run mining companies.
“My husband is a miner and I can say that we are poor. We live in this house, on the banks of the Yuruari River, which has now overflowed and left us homeless. The government does not help us. Where is the gold that they extract from the Orinoco Mining Arc?” asked María Sifontes, a resident of the La Chalana sector, one of the 13 communities affected by the recent flooding of the Yuruari.
While María offered the interview, the little food that was in her refrigerator was defrosting due to the blackout. On the main street of El Callao, the owner of a butcher shop spoke concerned about the situation.
“Last week I had to sell 35 kilos of meat at the price of a “skinny hen” (at cost), because the merchandise was decomposing. And just like me, many (have had to do so)”, said the merchant, who asked that his name and that of his business be omitted from this report.
In the mining areas of Bolívar, making a basic complaint about power cuts can have consequences. Many people want to express the reality of what they live, but they hold back out of fear or their safety.
Mining alliances backed by Chavismo devastate gold areas and collapse power lines in El Callao
Other Southern Towns
Mining alliances backed by Chavismo devastate gold areas and collapse power lines in El Callao
It is important to note that the serious electricity situation is not only experienced by El Callao, but also extends to other towns in southern Bolívar, such as Guasipati, Tumeremo and El Dorado, three gold-mining towns in which the Chavista regime has installed companies to extract gold ore in large quantities.
“Every day the power goes out. Yesterday, for example, we spent 13 hours without electricity and also without a telephone signal. We are cut off from the rest of the world,” said Clara Rondón, a resident of Guasipati.
It should be noted that at least 70% of the electricity consumed by all of Venezuela is generated in the south of the country in hydroelectric plants connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN).
Mining alliances backed by Chavismo devastate gold and collapse power lines in El Callao
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