One of the participants in a controversial jet-set party on a "tepuy", a rocky growth emerging from the Amazon rainforest in a Venezuelan national park, defended the feast on Friday, which provoked the ire of environmental protection NGOs and the opening of a judicial inquiry.
Read alsoIn Venezuela, power vampirizes the press
“What makes people angry is that we went there in a tuxedo and in a suit (…). If we had gone there jogging, no one would have said anything"
, quipped in a video on Instagram, Osmel Sousa, who for almost 40 years was director of the Miss Venezuela contest, an institution in this country renowned for having the most beautiful women in the world (7 Miss Universe, 6 Miss World).
Bringing together local celebrities, the
“party”
took place a week ago at the top of a tepuy in the park which notably includes Salto Angel, the highest waterfall in the world.
The images circulated widely on social media, sparking a wave of reactions and protests from environmental protection organisations.
The Venezuelan Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation
"into the damage caused to Canaima National Park (Tepuy Kusari) by a 'party' organized in this place by a company and a group of people"
, announced Thursday the Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William. Saab.
“I like Canaima.
I wouldn't be able to do anything to destroy it.
Many people still go to Canaima for ecological tourism without harming nature.
We did the same
,” defended Osmel Sousa.
"They criticized my poor green Dolce & Gabbana suit that I had put on in honor of nature"
during the party, joked Osmel Sousa, concluding:
"If they invite me again, I'll go back" .
The NGO SOS Orénoque indicated that it was a party organized for the birthday of a business leader hired by the government to promote tourism in Venezuela.
“The concentration of people (…) and the landing of civil aircraft in unauthorized areas”
is prohibited, indicates the NGO which underlines that the participants went to the tepuy Kusari by helicopter.
“A national park is an exceptional natural space belonging to all Venezuelans, which, due to its immense value, not only ecological but also symbolic, must be treated as a sacred temple of nature”
, believes the NGO.
She points out that the tepuys are considered sacred by the natives of the Pemon ethnic group, the first inhabitants of the region.
The tepuys are surprising geological formations arising in the Amazonian forests of Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil.
Canaima Park, which includes the tepuy of the Salto Angel waterfall (979 m), has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. Environmental activists also denounce the multiplication of illegal mining activities in recent years. In the region.