LM Report 2003

Venezuela

Key developments since May 2002: Venezuela submitted its initial Article 7 Report in September 2002, for the first time revealing information about its landmine stockpile. It submitted an updated report in May 2003 which included a revised stockpile total of 46,135 antipersonnel mines. From 7-14 May 2003, 35,360 of those mines were destroyed. Venezuela has reported that it laid antipersonnel mines in May 1998, five months after signing the Mine Ban Treaty.

Mine Ban Policy

Venezuela signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 14 April 1999, and the treaty entered into force on 1 October 1999. Venezuela has not yet enacted national mine ban legislation.

Venezuela attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 and intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003.

Venezuela submitted its annual Article 7 Report on 15 May 2003 and distributed the report to the May 2003 intersessional Standing Committee meetings.^[1] Its initial Article 7 Report, due on 29 March 2000, was submitted on 10 September 2002.^[2] The Ministry of Defense is responsible for preparing the report, through the Director of Operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the National Armed Forces and the Directorate of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law of the National Armed Forces.^[3]

Venezuela voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. At the 57th UNGA First Committee debate, Venezuela stated its support for mine action efforts and noted its continued contribution of military personnel to mine clearance operations in Central America.^[4]

Production and Transfer

Venezuela states that it has not produced antipersonnel mines.^[5] It is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines. There is no reliable information available on illegal trafficking of weapons, including antipersonnel mines, within Venezuelan territory. While reports of illegal trafficking of weapons along the Colombian–Venezuelan border continue, Landmine Monitor has not found any evidence of trafficking in antipersonnel mines during the reporting period.

Stockpiling and Destruction

Until its initial Article 7 report of September 2002, Venezuela had not formally and publicly provided information regarding its stockpile of antipersonnel mines. In June 2002, a government official had told Landmine Monitor that the Army and Navy stockpiled approximately 40,000 antipersonnel mines, of more than ten types, mostly US-manufactured.^[6]

In its initial Article 7 report, Venezuela reported a stockpile of 22,136 antipersonnel mines of seven different types.^[7] This figure was subsequently revised and in the May 2003 Article 7 report Venezuela reported a stockpile of 46,135 antipersonnel mines.^[8] It provided information on types, numbers and lot numbers but not country of manufacture.

Stockpiled Antipersonnel Mines (as of April 2003)[9]

Type of mine	Quantity
AM PMA3 (Yugoslavia)	27,003
SB33 (Spain)	18,805
M-16-A1 (US)	32
M-18-A1 (US)	1
M-35 (Belgium)	253
Unspecified mine (lot LOP90E113-001)	1
NMM-1401P (US)	40
Total	46,135

The Article 7 reports do not include any information on stockpile destruction plans for Venezuela, but at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction on 15 May 2003, the Venezuelan representative said destruction had begun on 7 May and would be completed by 22 May 2003, ahead of the treaty-mandated deadline of 1 October 2003.^[10]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently told Landmine Monitor that 35,360 mines were destroyed in the first phase of the destruction process that was carried out from 7-14 May 2003, and destruction would continue until it was completed.^[11]

According to the May 2003 Article 7 report, Venezuela will retain 4,614 PMA-3 antipersonnel mines for training and development, which is ten percent of its stockpile.^[12]

Landmine Use

In June 2002, a retired military officer told Landmine Monitor that military posts inside Navy bases in Apure and Amazonas states, on the border with Colombia, have minefields, which are marked.^[13] A government official subsequently confirmed this information.^[14]

In its May 2003 Article 7 report, Venezuela reported that it had emplaced 1,036 antipersonnel mines in six locations. This includes Guafitas, where it stated that the mines were laid in May 1998, which is five months after Venezuela signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997.^[15] Landmine Monitor traveled to Guafitas, a small community located in Páez municipality, Apure state, in May 2002, and verified the presence of a small minefield inside a Navy post on the Arauca river, on the Colombian border. The minefield, approximately five meters in width, lies around the perimeter of the Navy post and is fenced with ten warning signs. A local resident told Landmine Monitor that the Navy post was established in 1997 and that he did not know of any incidents involving landmines.^[16]

Mined Locations in Venezuela (As of April 2003)[17]

Location	Type	Quantity	Date of Emplacement	Supplementary information
Guafitas	SB-33	20	May 1998	Three areas
Isla Vapor	PMA-3	43	March 1996	One area
PNRAI (in Amazonas)	PMA-3	77	May 1995	One area
Atabapo	PMA-3	299	April 1995	Three areas
Puerto Páez	PMA-3	281	April 1995	Two areas
Cararabo	PMA-3	316	April 1995	Three areas

In April 2003, Landmine Monitor traveled to the community of San Fernando de Atabapo in Atabapo municipality, Amazonas state where it verified the presence of a minefield at the “Af. Clemente Maldonado” Navy post in the community, which lies on the Atabapo river bordering with Colombia.^[18] The minefield is located 30 meters from the nearest homes in the village. The officer in charge of the naval post told Landmine Monitor that the mines were on the periphery of the post, but he did not know the precise number of mines emplaced. According to Lt. Campos Velásquez, the mines were laid to prevent attacks from Colombian guerrillas, especially from the village of Amanaven, across the river on the Colombian side. The officer also said, “A number of mines were destroyed recently, but some we could not clear because they were moved by natural causes and we do not know their exact location.”^[19]

Landmine Monitor observed that the minefield is fenced, but that the warning signs were only seen from the inside of the Naval post, and could not be seen by persons approaching from the outside. The officer and local authorities told Landmine Monitor that the local population is aware of the danger, and that there had not been any accidents.^[20] However, a Marine at the post told Landmine Monitor, “A few years ago there was an accident to a soldier that was cutting the bush (maleza). He was taken away immediately and no one knew where he ended up or what his wounds were.”^[21]

According to a December 2001 media report, guerrillas belonging to a little known Colombian group called the Latin American Popular Army (EPLA, Ejército Popular Latinoamericano) were using “explosive mines” to surround and protect their camps in Venezuelan territory.^[22] Colombian non-state actors are active in the border regions between Colombia and Venezuela.

Mine Clearance, Assistance and Casualties

According to the May 2003 Article 7 report, the six Naval post minefields were inspected and documentation checked between April 2002 and April 2003. Training with metal detection equipment was reported for the period April 2002 to January 2003. There was a coordination meeting with a French military attaché “with the purpose of presenting the requirements for the endowment of special equipment for the destruction of minefields.” Venezuela was to begin “operations” in February 2002, but as of May 2003, there has been no clearance reported.^[23] According to the report, information on the destruction of mines in mined areas was not available.^[24]

Landmine Monitor was told by an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the delay was due to the lack of specialized equipment, which was being negotiated with France in early 2003; a French demining expert was to visit and advise on mine clearance in June 2003.^[25] At the February 2003 Standing Committee meeting, Venezuelan representative William Santana noted efforts were underway to negotiate support with France for the specialized suits needed for mine clearance.^[26]

Since 1996, Venezuela has contributed 32 military mine action supervisors to the MARMINCA mine clearance efforts by the OAS in Central America, including four in 2001 and four in 2002. According to the OAS, prior to January 2003 new military supervisors for MARMINCA from seven OAS member states including Venezuela received training and were integrated.^[27]

As noted above, Landmine Monitor was told in April 2003 that a few years ago a soldier in Atabapo had a mine accident while cutting bush.^[28]

There are no known civilian landmine survivors in Venezuela.^[29]

[1] Article 7 Report, 15 May 2003. A single time period is not covered. The various forms are relevant for different time periods.
[2] Article 7 Report, 10 September 2002.
[3] Interview with Alexandra París, Director of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 January 2002.
[4] Statement by Minister Counselor Marly Cedeño Reyes, 57th UNGA First Committee, 7 October 2002.
[5] Article 7 Report, Form H, 15 May 2003. In the past the US Department of Defense identified Venezuela as the producer of the MV-1 improvised fragmentation antipersonnel mine. In January 2002, Brigadier General José Esteban Godoy Peña told Landmine Monitor that Venezuela had not produced mines, and explained the MV-1 was a mine used by guerrillas in the 1960s, known as “trampas caza bobos” (fool-catcher booby-traps). See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 519.
[6] Telephone interview with government official who requested anonymity, 10 June 2002.
[7] Article 7 Report, Form B, 10 September 2002.
[8] Article 7 Report, Form B, 15 May 2003. The chart in Form B cites a total of 46,136, but the number of mines in the chart actually adds up to 46,135.
[9] Article 7 Report, Form B, 15 May 2003. Likely countries of manufacture are identified by Landmine Monitor.
[10] Intervention by Venezuela, Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 May 2003 (Notes taken by Landmine Monitor/MAC).
[11] Letter from Alexandra París, Director of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, No. 0968, 3 June 2003.
[12] Article 7 Report, Form D, 15 May 2003.
[13] Interview with retired Venezuelan military officer who requested anonymity, 10 June 2002.
[14] Telephone interview with government official who requested anonymity, 10 June 2002.
[15] The May 2003 Article 7 report indicates Venezuela laid 20 SB-33 antipersonnel mines in Guafita in May 1998. The September 2002 Article 7 report indicates the number was 58 SB-33 antipersonnel mines. See Article 7 Report, Form C, 15 May 2003 and Article 7 Report, Form C, 10 September 2002.
[16] Landmine Monitor field visit to Guafitas, Páez, Apure State, 31 May 2002.
[17] Article 7 Report, Form C, 15 May 2003.
[18] Landmine Monitor field visit to San Fernando de Atabapo, Atabapo, Amazonas state, 18 April 2003.
[19] Interview with Lt. Frankbel Campos Velásquez, at the Af. Clemente Maldonado Navy Post, San Fernando de Atabapo, Atabapo, Amazonas State, 18 April 2003.
[20] Interview with Ramón Brice, Prefect of Atabapo municipality; interview with Sister María Narisi, Salesian Mission, Coordinator of the San Fernando de Atabapo Human Rights Committee, San Fernando de Atabapo, Atabapo, Amazonas State, 18 April 2003.
[21] Interview with Marine, Af. Clemente Maldonado Navy Post, San Fernando de Atabapo, Atabapo, Amazonas State, 18 April 2003.
[22] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 520.
[23] Article 7 Report, Form A, 15 May 2003.
[24] Article 7 Report, Form G, 15 May 2003.
[25] Interview with Farida Yamín, Directorate of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 6 February 2003.
[26] Statement by William Santana, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Venezuela, at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, 6 February 2003 (Notes by Landmine Monitor/MAC).
[27] Organization of American States, “Update on Regional Mine Action Efforts,” May 2003, p. 2.
[28] Interview with Marine, Af. Clemente Maldonado Navy Post, San Fernando de Atabapo, Atabapo, Amazonas State, 18 April 2003.
[29] Landmine Monitor consulted with human rights groups in border regions, who confirmed there are no known mine victims in border communities.