http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/09/03/who-stole-my-gold.shtml

Who stole my gold?

The only joint venture in the mining sector has been already denounced. The labor union of Venrus points out that some gold bars -- that could amount to 81 suitcases filled with stolen dollars like Antonini s -- vanished

A quarter of the Venezuelan gold pays taxes, the rest vanishes. That is what the President of the Bolivarian Republic informed with a gold bar in his hands (Photo: AVN)

JOSEPH POLISZUK | EL UNIVERSAL

Saturday September 03, 2011 05:50 PM

From 23 million tons of gold that left the country last year, only six million reported taxes, said Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez in an obligatory simultaneous broadcast. "What is that?" he queried from Miraflores Palace. "Mafia, smuggling, we have to get rid of it." In El Callao, they add, however, that malfeasance goes under the government's nose.

Workers of the mine La Isidora warn about theft, loss or evaporation of more than 30,000 tons of auriferous material, the raw material of gold. "They were swallowed by the earth," Edward López affirms. "They steal the half from us and the State," he added.

Everything started because of a problem with fees: workers noted that the amount of raw material they extracted from that place in the State of Bolivar did not match with the earnings in their payment receipts. And a string of demands and counterclaims continued afterwards.

On the one hand, the company brought a criminal action against four trade union leaders. On the other hand, workers substantiated a case file with charges for fraud against the nation.

Gold bars missing

"They cheated us saying that each truck transported 11 tons of auriferous material," says Edward López, one of the trade unionists facing trial. "We struggled to get a scale from the government for a year and a half and it turned out that when they installed it, we realized that each truck transported several tons beyond the estimated amount."

Only in this case, more than USD 65 million vanished completely. Gold transcended the barrier of USD 1,800 per ounce. The gold bar that disappeared from the mine La Isidora would amount to 81 suitcases filled with stolen dollars as Antonini Wilson's. In addition to the amount, the company is none than Venrus, the only one that the government had become partner with even before announcing the nationalization.

The gold mafias - whom President Hugo Chávez asked to get rid of in nationwide broadcast— are not that hidden. The labor union of the mine La Isidora points out that most of the smuggling goes by ordinary means and even under the guise of joint ventures, as the one that the government organized under the name of Venrus, in company with Russian capital.

Official anouncements

President Hugo Chávez recently announced -- at Council of Ministers meeting-- a new strategic plan for mining areas in the State of Bolívar. He had been warning about a new law for the group. Finally, holding a gold bar in his hand, he informed that the exploitation from now on would be carried out by joint ventures that have been operating in the petroleum area for some years.

Earlier, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Rafael Ramírez had already disclosed a bit of the plans: "Everyone who knows the southern area of the country and the mining arch of Guayana, can tell that gold has been in hands of transnational companies which operate in different ways: undercover, on the wrong side of the law and they are stealing our natural resources."

Ramírez spoke about stealing the nation, and in order to stop it as the value of the ounce of gold has peaked, he added that the State would nationalize gold mines through a new regulation by means of the Enabling Law.

It is now clear that what the government has called the nationalization of gold is intended to substitute the usual concessions for models of joint ventures, in which the State can ensure the majority stake in the firms that extract the mineral. But in El Callao, they insist that the status of joint ventures is not enough.

"We agree with nationalization, but if the State does not take a stance and take measures, they will keep stealing," López notes. He is positive that this has been the case with Venrus, whose stocks are shared by the Venezuelan government and Russian company Rusoro Mining Ltd in equal parts, and traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada.

Those in Venrus have chosen a low profile. Although an attempt was made to learn about their opinion, its representatives would not answer the phone. For now, they have not stated what they will do to face the changes announced by the government, or the claims of workers.

From London, however, the Chief Executive Officer of Rusoro, Andrei Agapov, said that when the Venezuelan president gave the news of the gold nationalization, he did not mean the whole sector; instead, the measure was aimed to fight against the mafias, which he attributes mainly to small mining.

Agapov --who according to The Wall Street Journal has bonds and friendship with Chávez-- thinks that the Head of State's words were directed to those who extract gold in illegal ways and without permission.

Without compass

There is no defined policy for gold, concluded the ex- mayor of Sifontes municipality in the State of Bolívar, Carlos Chancellor. He also speaks about "the terrible failure of this government in terms of mining."

For Chancellor, it is not accident that President Chávez included a gold plan in his agenda these days. He does not even think that it is all about electioneering to win the miners' vote, but simply an opportunity to seize the rise the market is offering. The swings of world economy have multiplied the value of this and other commodities and under those circumstances the government seemed to be worried about the mafias that have always been in the mines of the country.

"What a coincidence that in this very moment, when gold has an astonishing high price, the government wants to put its hands on the sector!" Chancellor wonders.

jpoliszuk@eluniversal.com

Translated by Adrián Valera Villani