[4][5] The Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, the Venezuelan Society of Ecology, the Association of Archaeologists and Archaeologists of Venezuela (AAAV), the National Assembly of Venezuela, the Latin America and Caribbean (LACA) Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), and the NGO PROVEA have publicly expressed their concern at the non-compliance with environmental and sociocultural impact studies, the violation of rights to prior consultation with indigenous communities, cultural and natural heritage, and national sovereignty.[6][7][8][9][10][11] In 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, denounced that workers in the Orinoco Mining Arc are subjected to serious abuse and violence that caused at least 149 deaths between 2016 and 2020.[14] The region is traditional territory of several Indigenous peoples including the Kari’ña, Warao, Arawak, Pemón, Ye’kwana, Sanemá o Hotï, Eñe’pa, Panare, Wánai, Mapoyo, Piaroa and Hiwi.In the Caura river basin, a tributary to the Orinoco, 92 percent of indigenous women had elevated levels of mercury, which could damage the kidney and brain and impedes fetal development.[14] The most important environmental impacts of mining in the region are the destruction of ecosystems and rivers, the modification of topography, habitat fragmentation, and the pollution of water and fish by sediment and mercury.