Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlvenezuela



Venezuela <![CDATA[Venezuela’s mine contamination is the result of mine emplacement by its armed forces at six naval bases near the Arauca river in the Amazon region along its border with Colombia. After a 25 February 1995 attack on the naval post in Cararabo, Apure state, by suspected non-state armed groups operating on the border with Colombia, Venezuela laid 1,074 mines in 13 minefields around six naval posts in Cararabo, Guafitas, Isla Vapor, Puerto Paez, Rio Arauca, and San Fernando de Atabapo; the total mined area is 180,000m2. The maps and photographs in Venezuela’s Article 5 deadline extension request clearly show the locations and terrain of the mined areas. The minefields are located on a flood plain in dense vegetation and in an isolated part of Venezuela. Although in previous years Venezuela had announced plans to carry out clearance of the naval bases, as of June 2008 it had still to initiate clearance operations, despite becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 1999. In its Article 5 deadline extension request, submitted in March 2008, Venezuela said difficult geographical, environmental, climatic, and technical factors have prevented mine clearance from taking place. The request also notes that clearance personnel were at risk from attack by Colombian irregular groups, and that “the transportation of personnel and equipment must take place under maximum safety in order to prevent placing the deminers in a vulnerable and insecure position.

The impact of the 13 mined areas is negligible since they are located on naval bases near sparsely populated centers. The mined areas are difficult to access and are in areas where civilians are not allowed. In a 2007 memorandum provided to Landmine Monitor, Venezuela stated that its border naval posts were under threat from Colombian non-state armed groups, making it necessary to acquire a detection and early alert system to substitute for the antipersonnel mines.

At the Eighth Meeting of States Parties, Venezuela reported that no fatal mine incidents had ever occurred in Venezuela. No new mine/ERW casualties were recorded in 2007 and through June 2008. The last known mine casualty was reported in 2004.[36] From 1999 to June 2008, Landmine Monitor recorded two military personnel injured by mines and five casualties, including four killed and one injured (three children, two men), as a result of unexploded ordnance close to a military base and training area. In 2008, Venezuela reported that only one mine casualty had been recorded, on 6 September 2004.

]]> <![CDATA[]]>