The Warao communities in the Orinoco
river delta of Venezuela are
up in arms against transnational companies involved in
oil exploration in three areas
of their homelands. At a
conference in Tucupita, the
capital of Delta Amacuro
state, they demanded immediate end to all oil-related
activities and an investigation
into the environmental damage that has been caused.
The Venezuelan government recently awarded concessions to three foreign
companies to reactivate the
abandoned Pedernales oil
field and two other fields in
the Orinoco region. The
Orinoco delta is considered
the last of the world's great
river deltas which has remained intact. It is home to
around 25,000 surviving
Waraos. According to
Catalina Herrera, a member
of the Directorate for
Assistance to Indigenous
People in Delta Amacuro,
the state oil company,
Petroleos de Vene-zuela, had
not consulted the Waraos
about the effect of oil-related
activities on the fragile
ecosystem of the delta.
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