In the year when “affordability” is a priority concern for ordinary Americans, $11.3 billion estimated cost for a war of choice in Iran in the first six days alone … and counting.
And this doesn’t include costs linked to buildup to the war.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/w...
The U.S. pursuit of Venezuela’s natural resources echoes what has become known as the “Donroe Doctrine”, a credo laid down by the White House in late 2025 that seeks to reassert U.S. supremacy in the Western Hemisphere.
For @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪
www.crisisgroup.org/qna/latin-am...
El acceso a los minerales de Venezuela ha sido menos publicitado que el de su petróleo, pero su potencial no ha pasado desapercibido en los círculos del gobierno estadounidense.
Lea nuestro nuevo texto para @latam.crisisgroup.org
www.crisisgroup.org/es/qna/latin...
With U.S. support, Ecuador’s armed forces destroyed a camp of the Comandos de la Frontera in Sucumbíos, an armed group involved in Colombia's ongoing peace talks.
In 2025 we warned about heightened cross-border conflict risks.
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
"U.S. companies risk becoming stuck between two bad options: they could extract directly and either provoke the ire of armed groups or collude with them; or they could buy from state companies responsible for financing systematic abuses of Indigenous and local communities."
🇻🇪👇
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told mining executives and metals traders that Washington wants to unlock Venezuela's mineral wealth.
Want to know what's really on Trump's menu? We investigated Venezuela's critical minerals:
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
Venezuela's critical minerals (coltan, tin, tungsten, rare earths) are drawing increasing attention.
But beyond gold, little is known.
With @AmazonUworld we documented their extraction, abuses, and illicit trade along the Colombian-Venezuelan border👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=temJ...
En Venezuela hay reservas abundantes de minerales críticos. Para el mundo, una oportunidad. Para quienes viven allí, no necesariamente.
Mientras Caracas y Washington vean la Amazonía como zona de saqueo e ignoren a sus habitantes, cualquier estrategia fracasará.
elpais.com/america-colo...
Today in Colombia, it is impossible to talk about the nature of armed conflict without understanding that there are children being forced to participate in every part of it
🧵on our new @crisisgroup.org report & how generalized child recruitment has become
www.crisisgroup.org/brf/latin-am...
Following Maduro’s arrest and U.S. attacks on Venezuela, questions arise about Trump’s interest in critical minerals - or rather, preventing Chinese access.
Our Amazon Underworld study on criminal control of the business:
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
3/ Through these corridors, conflict and violence are rising. Where the Río Negro divides Colombia and Venezuela, the ELN and Segunda Marquetalia fight, affecting thousands of families, a crisis so far ignored by local state authorities.
2/ Intelligence sources and communities report an increase in drug trafficking, for example, through the Orinoco and Río Negro corridors, supplying international routes to Europe, among others.
1/ Trump's attacks against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific have a little-discussed consequence: increased drug trafficking through the Amazon, driving local violence and severely affecting vulnerable communities.
amazonunderworld.org/ataques-a-la...
Critical minerals are being extracted in areas under the control of guerrilla groups, involving systematic human rights abuses and accelerating environmental destruction in one of Earth’s most vital ecosystems.
Our Amazon Underworld article for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For almost a year, we've been chasing the critical minerals (coltan, tin, rare earths, and more) of the Amazon and the dark interests behind their trade. Today, we've launched a series of articles and an investigative report, but there's more to come!
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
Durante casi un año, hemos estado persiguiendo los minerales críticos (coltán, tierras raras, etc.) de la Amazonía y los oscuros intereses detrás de su comercio.
Hoy, con Amazon Underworld, hemos comenzado con una serie de artículos, ¡pero hay más por venir!
amazonunderworld.org/es/specials/...
Indigenous peoples, proven to be the Amazon's most effective nature guardians, are increasingly facing mounting pressures from those after the rainforest's riches.
We're honoured to have Amazon defender Alessandra Munduruku as our guest writer.
amazonunderworld.org/the-crime-th...
About a month ago, Tom Laffay and I visited the Comandos de la Frontera, a group that describes itself as a "21st-century guerrilla organization," controlling the borderlands of Colombia with Peru and Ecuador.
This is our Amazon Underworld story 👇🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇪
amazonunderworld.org/the-state-of...
Hace aproximadamente un mes, Tom Laffay y yo visitamos a los Comandos de la Frontera, un grupo que se describe como una "organización guerrillera del siglo XXI," controlando las fronteras de Colombia con Perú y Ecuador.
Esta es nuestra historia 🇨🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨👇
amazonunderworld.org/es/el-estado...
This week, Bogotá hosts the Amazon Dialogues, where Amazon governments convene to discuss main challenges.
With our journalistic partners and @amazonwatch.org, we have publications lined up about the Amazon's most disputed borderlands and why this should be on the political agenda.
Stay tuned!
La expansión de la minería ilegal en los estados Bolívar y Amazonas de Venezuela ha provocado una violencia generalizada contra la población local, especialmente contra las comunidades indígenas, así como daños ambientales que amenazan con destruir esta parte de la Amazonía.
Record gold prices have made illegal mining more profitable than ever.
In the Venezuelan Amazon, this means not only organized crime is capitalizing, but state authorities like the army are involved as well.
Our new @crisisgroup.org briefing 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...
Los precios récord del oro hacen que la minería ilegal sea más rentable que nunca, y en la Amazonía venezolana esto no solo significa que el crimen organizado aprovecha, sino también las autoridades estatales.
Nuestro nuevo informe de @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
The U.S. Secretary of State cares so much for Venezuelans that he helped disappear hundreds of them to a hellhole in El Salvador to face horrifying abuse.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
In Venezuela's far east, where the Orinoco River meets the Atlantic Ocean, FARC dissident groups have seized control far from their Colombian origins.
This is what we discovered @armandoinfo.bsky.social / Amazon Underworld 🇻🇪🐍
amazonunderworld.org/es/disidente...
Over the next days and weeks, we'll introduce more of our team and share more about our project, but first, our brand new feature article about the illegal timber that's pulled out of Bolivian forests into Peru and to world markets - by RAI - from Bolivia!
amazonunderworld.org/selva-en-fug...
11/ It has been very exciting to work with a full team of administrative experts, advocacy and editorial specialists, amazing journalists, researchers, social media people, web developers and designers, but special thanks to co-director Juan Torres for working tirelessly to get this ready!
10/ and will repackage some of our journalistic content in investigative reports and advocate for change. This, for example, we do with partners such as @amazonwatch.org, IUCN-NL, GI-TOC and @globalwitness.org.
.
9/ Now, in our new setup, our journalistic content is only part of our project, as we try to answer a high demand from policymakers to better understand the combined climate, environmental, and security crises in the Amazon ...
8/ That said, this means we'll do our best to combine maps and data with chronicled texts, but also will include video and short documentaries in our way of reporting, with help from Cruzo Mundo.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMp-...
