The deteriorating economy of Venezuela and its leader are held on bloody gold

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Editor's Note: Isa Soares is a presenter and correspondent for CNN International.

(CNN) - Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, but gold is increasingly vital there. In the mines of the besieged country, the valuable metal has replaced the Bolivar, which is almost completely worthless - even a haircut is quoted in gold.

It is believed that almost all the gold reserves of the country lie in the Orinoco Mining Arc, in the state of Bolívar. Wide and almost completely covered by the jungle, it covers almost 104 thousand square kilometers.

The three-hour drive by car from the airport in Puerto Ordaz to the city of El Callao, considered the capital of the mining industry, is breathtakingly picturesque. However, El Callao is also one of the most violent municipalities in Venezuela. We passed thirteen checkpoints along the way; but they do not care what enters this area, what interests them is what comes out.

We met miners like Darwin Rojas, who works fifty meters underground. Muddy, perspired and with difficulty breathing, this 43-year-old man is hammering in a small corner, demolishing one stone after another. The air is hot, the humidity is overwhelming. You can smell the stench of dozens of men who have already spent more than half the day down here.

The rocks they find must be demolished, processed and melted. Mercury and other chemicals used poison the environment and put miners' health at risk. But even a small nugget of gold can be worth hundreds of dollars, in a country where millions of people earn as little as $ 7 per month.

However, chemicals are not the only risk. A miner who was afraid to speak to the camera told us that gangs work near the mines. "They mutilate people, they cut them, they torture them," he said. Those who raise their voices face a worse fate. "They kill them and throw them into those holes."

The gangs - according to a military source - fight among themselves and against the military forces for control of the area. A miner says the government could stop them, but he does not do so because he benefits from them.

General Manuel Figuera, a former spy chief of the Maduro government, told us that Maduro benefits directly. "There are companies linked to Maduro's family environment that buy gold or negotiate gold mining," he said. "They sell one part to the central bank and take the other one out of the country without any control."

Another source - at the Central Bank of Venezuela - told us that, at the end of April of this year, 26 tons of gold were extracted from the bank and loaded onto private planes bound for the Middle East and Africa.

"Everything, directly or indirectly, goes to the Government," a gold merchant in El Callao told us. "The government controls the environment completely."

We contacted the Central Bank of Venezuela to ask for comments, but they did not respond.

Venezuela's economy has shrunk in half in just five years. In El Callao, where the gold rush combines human misery with environmental devastation, Maduro is probably the only winner.

(Translation of William Montes)

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