U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Thursday said Venezuela’s government is giving security assurances to mining companies interested in investing in the South American country, where mineral-rich areas have long been controlled by guerrilla members, gangs and other illegal groups that mine with consent — and to the benefit — of officials and the military.
Burgum told reporters at the end of a two-day trip to Venezuela that the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez acknowledged concerns about the security risks. The legal exploitation of mining in those unsafe, difficult-to-reach areas is part of the U.S. government’s phased plan to turn around the crisis-wrecked country.
