At 79 years, Juan Otero has seen the marvels and miseries of the lost world. The isolated area of mountains dotted with prehistoric-known as tepuis, "that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle immortalized in his book The Lost World. Galician from Ferrol This would be a sailor. He completed his studies in Barcelona Marina Mercante fifties, and became part of the crew of the training ship Juan Sebastian Elcano.
"I wanted to go to Panama to work on something related to the canal and marina, but the ironies of life ended up in the Gran Sabana got a gold mine," said Otero at his home in Santa Elena de Uairen, one of the centers most important mining in Venezuela. He reached the South American country in 1956.
He was in Caracas for a few months until he became embroiled in a confusing case of smuggling of arms for the fledgling Venezuelan guerrillas. After his hurried flight from the capital, ended up in the oil city of Maracaibo, where he worked transporting industrial waste in tankers. "A friend convinced me to travel to the Gran Sabana and work in a gold deposit.
Ask a credit to the government and set to explode several veins of the area," he explains. It's been over 38 years. The last 20 dedicated to mine 490 hectares known as the basin, about 30 miles west of Santa Elena, which owns a concession. "In the good times came to work up to 60 miners, today fail to 6", he says, somewhat dismayed.
"All zone activity is paralyzed." The current situation is totally uncertain. Six months ago, the government of Hugo Chavez launched an ambitious plan to lift more than 15,000 illegal miners working in the Caura River in southeast Venezuela. Caura Basin, a major tributary of the Orinoco, home to 17% of the national flora and 32% of the fauna.
Also feeds some of the famous waterfalls of the Gran Sabana, as the Salto Para. The use of chemicals to extract the precious stones, especially mercury, has caused major havoc on the ecosystem in Venezuela. And ruined some soils it will take 150 years to recover productivity. The miners not only in the jungle in search of gold and diamonds, many leave behind precious timber and coltan, a superconductor used in almost all electronic devices from mobile phones, plasma televisions through to guided weapons.
The contaminated area is part of the 30,000 hectares of Canaima National Park where Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world. "The gold business has changed a lot. 10 years ago, miners pay 7% tax. It has now risen to 23.5%. The only thing that has made the Government to increase taxation to promote illegal mining, "says Otero.
A combination of high taxes, ineffective controls, bureaucracy and corruption, illegal mining has soared in Venezuela, a country that, according to official figures, produces formally about six tons of gold a year. Although the actual export figures could double or even triple this number.
"The problem is very complex. The government brought many miners from the sites of 88 km, The Police, Icabarú and La Paragua. In many cases, even gave them loans and grants so they could start another business, "says Otero." But he is mine is mine, and when they spend the money (money), return again to the mine because it's all they do, "he says flatly.
Otero married an Indian Arekuna. He had five children, half Indian half Galicia. then moved house and left his wife in hers. No divorced for not giving a bad example their children. After more than 50 years in Venezuela, John is still Galician head and heart. Talk about everything except how much gold and diamond can be drawn from his mine in a half.
"I do not know the truth. But if I knew, not what you say. I am a miner. " 
"I wanted to go to Panama to work on something related to the canal and marina, but the ironies of life ended up in the Gran Sabana got a gold mine," said Otero at his home in Santa Elena de Uairen, one of the centers most important mining in Venezuela. He reached the South American country in 1956.
He was in Caracas for a few months until he became embroiled in a confusing case of smuggling of arms for the fledgling Venezuelan guerrillas. After his hurried flight from the capital, ended up in the oil city of Maracaibo, where he worked transporting industrial waste in tankers. "A friend convinced me to travel to the Gran Sabana and work in a gold deposit.
Ask a credit to the government and set to explode several veins of the area," he explains. It's been over 38 years. The last 20 dedicated to mine 490 hectares known as the basin, about 30 miles west of Santa Elena, which owns a concession. "In the good times came to work up to 60 miners, today fail to 6", he says, somewhat dismayed.
"All zone activity is paralyzed." The current situation is totally uncertain. Six months ago, the government of Hugo Chavez launched an ambitious plan to lift more than 15,000 illegal miners working in the Caura River in southeast Venezuela. Caura Basin, a major tributary of the Orinoco, home to 17% of the national flora and 32% of the fauna.
Also feeds some of the famous waterfalls of the Gran Sabana, as the Salto Para. The use of chemicals to extract the precious stones, especially mercury, has caused major havoc on the ecosystem in Venezuela. And ruined some soils it will take 150 years to recover productivity. The miners not only in the jungle in search of gold and diamonds, many leave behind precious timber and coltan, a superconductor used in almost all electronic devices from mobile phones, plasma televisions through to guided weapons.
The contaminated area is part of the 30,000 hectares of Canaima National Park where Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world. "The gold business has changed a lot. 10 years ago, miners pay 7% tax. It has now risen to 23.5%. The only thing that has made the Government to increase taxation to promote illegal mining, "says Otero.
A combination of high taxes, ineffective controls, bureaucracy and corruption, illegal mining has soared in Venezuela, a country that, according to official figures, produces formally about six tons of gold a year. Although the actual export figures could double or even triple this number.
"The problem is very complex. The government brought many miners from the sites of 88 km, The Police, Icabarú and La Paragua. In many cases, even gave them loans and grants so they could start another business, "says Otero." But he is mine is mine, and when they spend the money (money), return again to the mine because it's all they do, "he says flatly.
Otero married an Indian Arekuna. He had five children, half Indian half Galicia. then moved house and left his wife in hers. No divorced for not giving a bad example their children. After more than 50 years in Venezuela, John is still Galician head and heart. Talk about everything except how much gold and diamond can be drawn from his mine in a half.
"I do not know the truth. But if I knew, not what you say. I am a miner. "
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