Un informe del Observatorio de Ecología Política de Venezuela (OEP) expone los peores conflictos ambientales que enfrentó el país sudamericano en 2021. Entre ellos están los derrames de petróleo, la deforestación, la minería y la falta de agua potable en zonas con cuencas hidrográficas degradadas. By Maxwell Radwin. Texto Completo-> Mongabay

︎For English text, use Google’s translator at the bottom ︎

Last year, the government appeared to lean more heavily on the country’s natural resources, expanding mining activity and increasing oil production in hopes of creating some economic stability. The result was another year of significant environmental devastation. Although there are few reliable statistics to show whether it was better or worse than past years, 2021 was marked by widespread tree cover loss, pollution, water shortages, and violations of Indigenous groups’ rights, according to a new report by the Political Ecology Observatory of Venezuela (OEP). by Maxwell Radwin. Full Text -> Mongabay

Traducción de cortesía -> El año pasado, el gobierno pareció apoyarse más en los recursos naturales del país, expandiendo la actividad minera y aumentando la producción de petróleo con la esperanza de crear cierta estabilidad económica. El resultado fue otro año de devastación ambiental significativa. Aunque hay pocas estadísticas confiables que muestren si fue mejor o peor que en años anteriores, 2021 estuvo marcado por la pérdida generalizada de la cubierta forestal, la contaminación, la escasez de agua y las violaciones de los derechos de los grupos indígenas, según un nuevo informe del Observatorio de Ecología Política. de Venezuela (OEP)

Traducción al español -> Google Translación

Meanwhile, the Venezuelan Observatory of Environmental Human Rights (OVDHA – Spanish initials) announced it had (Spanish) identified 199 oil spills between 2016 and 2021. The OVDHA identified 68 spills alone during 2021, which is a startling six times greater than the 12 reported for 2016. According to the OVDHA 90% of those spills occurred in six states, Anzoátegui, Monagas, Zulia, Sucre, Falcón y Carabobo, where Venezuela’s petroleum industry is located. That is an incredibly high number for a country that only pumped on average somewhere between 552,500 and 635,250 barrels per day during 2021. By Matthew Smith. Full Text -> OIlPrice

Traducción de cortesía -> Mientras tanto, el Observatorio Venezolano de Derechos Humanos Ambientales (OVDHA) anunció que había identificado 199 derrames de petróleo entre 2016 y 2021. El OVDHA identificó 68 derrames solo durante 2021, lo que es sorprendentemente seis veces mayor que los 12 reportados. para 2016. Según la OVDHA, el 90% de esos derrames ocurrieron en seis estados, Anzoátegui, Monagas, Zulia, Sucre, Falcón y Carabobo, donde se encuentra la industria petrolera de Venezuela. Ese es un número increíblemente alto para un país que solo bombeó en promedio entre 552,500 y 635,250 barriles por día durante 2021.

Oil spills along Venezuela’s Caribbean coast as well as leakages of petroleum liquids and related noxious gases from nearby infrastructure are regular, almost daily, events.  The scale of the disaster engulfing Venezuela’s environment due to oil industry operations is practically impossible to quantify because PDVSA ceased reporting spills during 2016. … . Despite the lack of reporting, independent experts believe that oil spills, waste discharges, fumes, flaring, and other environmental emissions have soared oviromenver the last decade. During 2016, the year that PDSA ceased reporting environmental incidents, there were 8,259 spills, or quadruple the volume reported for 1999. That is a startling number of oil spills for a country that, according to OPEC secondary sources, pumped an average of 2.1 million barrels per day during 2016 compared to 2.8 million barrels for 1999, which was Chavez’s first year in power.By Matthew Smith. Full Text -> OilPrice

Traducción de cortesía -> Los derrames de petróleo a lo largo de la costa caribeña de Venezuela, así como las fugas de líquidos de petróleo y gases nocivos relacionados de la infraestructura cercana son eventos regulares, casi diarios. La escala del desastre que envuelve el medio ambiente de Venezuela debido a las operaciones de la industria petrolera es prácticamente imposible de cuantificar porque PDVSA dejó de reportar derrames durante 2016. … . A pesar de la falta de informes, los expertos independientes creen que los derrames de petróleo, las descargas de desechos, los humos, la quema y otras emisiones ambientales se han disparado durante la última década. Durante 2016, año en que PDSA dejó de reportar incidentes ambientales, hubo 8,259 derrames, o el cuádruple del volumen reportado en 1999. Esa es una cifra alarmante de derrames de petróleo para un país que, según fuentes secundarias de la OPEP, bombeó un promedio de 2.1 millones barriles por día durante 2016 en comparación con los 2,8 millones de barriles de 1999, que fue el primer año de Chávez en el poder. Traducción al español -> Google Translación

The first Vice President of the National Assembly, Juan Pablo Guanipa, assured that for environmental development to be sustainable in the country it is necessary to achieve the end of Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship. “Those in power only seek to enrich themselves at the cost of the degradation and exploitation of natural resources in alliance with criminal groups,” Guanipa said at the first meeting of the Venezuela Green Network. Full Text-> CentrodeComunicaciónNacional

The political and economic ruin of Venezuela, once one of Latin America’s wealthiest countries, is by now a well-known story. Far less understood are the catastrophic impacts of the crisis on the country’s environment. International action is urgently needed — first to stabilize the downfall, and then to rebuild functional environmental institutions. The fifth session of the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in Nairobi could provide a path to reverting Venezuela’s untenable environmental trajectory. By Francisco Dallmeier and Cristina V. Burelli Full Text -> TheWashingtonPost

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), co-Chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), and SEEC Member Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to express grave concern regarding the looming environmental disaster posed by the sinking Venezuelan oil tanker Nabarima in the Gulf of Paria, and to urge the administration to grant the necessary exceptions to United States sanctions that would facilitate emergency operations to stabilize and safeguard the tanker. Full Text -> Gerry Connolly WP

Right now, there is a floating storage and offloading facility floating in the Gulf of Paria off the coast of Venezuela, and it could sink at any moment, sending a catastrophic quantity of oil–80 million gallons–into the crystalline waters of the Caribbean Sea, ranking it as one of the top ten worst oil spills in world history. By Haley Zaremba. Full Text -> OilPrice

Water ingress has been reported on an ageing FSO off Venezuela which is carrying 173,000 tons of oil onboard. Eudis Girot, who heads a local trade union covering the petroleum industries, cited the poor maintenance onboard the FSO Nabarima, causing the water ingress, photos of which he posted on social media. By Sam Chambers. Full Text-> Splash247

Venezuela’s National Assembly, the only institution which is not controlled by the government, has demanded information on a oil spill which has caused a large slick to be washed up on the shores of Falcón state. Full Text-> BBCNews