The abundance of natural resources found in Latin America places the region high in the world ranking. Countries such as Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela are at the forefront of the world's production for materials such as copper, aluminium, tin, silver, iron, gold and oil.

The present globalisation of the economy is characterised by a rapid expansion of mining, with the sector attracting foreign investment throughout the world at an extraordinary pace. Latin America is no exception to this global trend, and specialist mining journals consider that the region is experiencing a "mining boom", as well as dominating investment in the emerging markets, with Venezuela occupying second place (MMLA 1996:6;The Times Supplement 1996). This is linked to the level of investment in mining exploration in Latin America, which during 1994-95 exceeded that received by other regions of the world by a comfortable margin, catapulting Latin America into first place for the first time in history.

Why are mining companies attracted to the region? Is it just a result of the great abundance of opportunities, flexible tax legislation and few environmental concerns? In this paper, the growing importance of the mining sector for Latin American countries and Venezuela in particular will be addressed within a wider context, focusing on the rising influence of multilateralism. Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank are at the forefront of external forces shaping the economic development of the region and creating the basis for a legislative and political environment receptive to mining investments (Maza Zavala 1997).

Is mining the answer to the economic problems of the region? What is the position of other stakeholders? Environmental organisations fear the long-term effects on communities and the environment of a model of development based on the accelerated extraction of natural resources. There is also widespread concern about the role played by mining corporations in weakening environmental regulations, and the promulgation of new mining codes which aim to transform mining in Latin America into a regional priority. In the race to secure foreign investment, Venezuela is currently discussing a new Mining Law which gives mining a strategic importance in the development plans for the country. Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Guyana, Ecuador and Panama are also discussing important changes to their legislation. The proposed legal framework shatters all hopes of strengthening democratic processes through citizen participation. What the future holds for individual rights could not be more bleak, as the new regulations sek to eliminate the right to oppose mining, whilst granting companies the right to secure police intervention in case of public unrest threatening their ability to operate.

Worldwide, in relation to the rainforests, two very significant and opposing conceptual trends can be observed.

One trend is marked by the preoccupation of the modern world with the fate of the rainforests. It has been estimated that due to extensive deforestation, nearly half the original forest covering the earth has disappeared (WRI 1997:1). As a result of this loss and an awareness of its importance to humankind, global concern is accompanied by a feeling of urgency that what remains of the forests needs to be protected.

Fuelled by public concern, western countries have given a splash of "greening" to their national policies, whilst for their part, regional governments - echoing national and international concerns - have devoted themselves to the formulation of environmental policies.

Within Latin America, Venezuela has been at the forefront of important initiatives to protect the forests, and as early as 1937 the country established its first protected area. Fifty years later, through the creation of National Parks and the designation of protected areas under special regime (ABRAE) such as forest reserves, the Venezuelan state has assumed the legal guardianship of over 44% of the 912,346 sq.km. which comprise the national territory.

Every country in the region has its own protection programmes. Brazil, for example, designated vast extensions of lands as National Parks, set up organisations such as the Institute for the Environment and the Protection of Non-Renewal Resources (IBAMA), and in 1988 assumed responsibility for the protection of the interests and rights of its indigenous inhabitants.

In recognition of potential difficulties, additional precautions in the form of binding clauses were inserted in the regulations of countries such as Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Panama to name just a few. In Venezuela, one of the most relevant to the present discussion was the conditioning of mining activities within protected territories to the express authorisation of the national congress.

For a while it seemed that the future of Latin America's forests was guaranteed through this combination of measures. But it was not long before both governments and transnational corporations managed to cut through the protection provided by the law in their rush to pocket the economic benefits of the rainforests.

This situation brings us to the second trend observed in relation to the rainforests: that is, the advance of mining into areas considered until recently inaccessible and unprofitable. The push for new frontiers corresponds to a time when, due to strict environmental controls, higher production costs and the exhaustion of mineral deposits, mining in the industrialised world underwent a series of changes (MMLA 1997:18). Through international expansion, the industry attempted to overcome these difficulties and respond to the growing demand for the earth's scarcest resources. As a result of international expansion, availability of funds, development of new technology, lower costs and increased production, the mining industry has experienced tremendous growth, with more than 1000 companies competing for a share of the market (Wilson 1997:7).

In South America, the targeted rainforest areas of the Guyana Shield (Mining Journal1996:8) correspond to a "forgotten world". In the glossy pages of corporate reports the industry's strategy in relation to the rainforests is presented as a military attack. The reviews highlight the difficulties and inaccessibility of the rainforest terrain (MLA1997:10), indomitable water forces and unwelcome cultures. Against this scenario, the activities are portrayed as "battles" and "conquests".

In spite of the fact that Venezuela registers one of the highest rates of deforestation in the region (Centeno 1997:1), the advance of mining within specially designated areas has taken the industry into the cradle of the Orinoco and Caroni rivers, valued for their strategic importance in supplying power to over 72% of the country (CINECO 1996). Such is the destruction and contamination left behind by irresponsible mining in areas of strategic importance in the Bolivar State that the scarred terrain resembles a lunar landscape. Toxic waste of fluorescent colours mixes with the dark waters of the rivers, whilst felled trees are left lying in abandoned sites as landmarks.

As a result of the new mining legislation currently under discussion, the future of Venezuelan rainforests and of the indigenous people that inhabit them could not be bleaker. As in Brazil, unscrupulous politicians have been accused of using their positions of power to encourage mining within protected areas since 1975 (Antillano 1998:1). Vast extensions of land in the delta of the Orinoco have been added to the destruction in the name of development. In the swamps and thick marsh of the many creeks of the Orinoco, the Warao people fear for their territories and the survival of their cultures as a result of new oil leases, led by Mobil Oil Corporation, which are expected to bring billions of dollars into the country (The Times Supplement 1997).

Throughout the region, one of the most important objectives of the mining industry is to create the right conditions on the "playing field" which in Venezuela, for example, included Placer Dome making the start of operations at their "Las Cristinas" mining development conditional upon wholesale tax exoneration (Wilson, President of Placer Dome Latin America 1997:4). How Placer Dome, a world leader mining corporation, obtained ownership of this concession is worth discussing because it represents an excellent illustration of how level the "playing field" really is.

The project, which is the first large-scale open-cast gold mine in Venezuela's remote forests and one of the largest in Latin America, is of great importance to Placer Dome because its 11.8 million ounces of estimated gold reserves represent 10% of Placer's world output (Financial Times 1/9/97). In a long and expensive battle Crystallex, a junior Canadian mining company, has demonstrated that Placer Dome was involved in gross irregularities in order to obtain legal ownership of the concession (Vheadline/Venews 1997). During the dispute, which showed the complicity of Placer's partner, the CVG, the corporation's shares suffered a $750 million loss (The Financial Post, Canada 14/8/97) and the business credibility of the corporation was damaged. The impact of this complex legal suit is not restricted to the companies involved, and it has had far-reaching consequences for the whole of the Venezuelan mining sector, accelerating as a result the search for optimal conditions. We will now consider Venezuela's prject for a new mining law, first of all within a regional context and secondly in relation to its national impact on the civil society.

In an effort to foster regional co-operation and work on the modernisation of the institutions responsible for mining developments, in 1996 during a meeting held in Chile the mining ministers of Latin America committed themselves to carrying out reforms which - among other objectives - would favour foreign investment for mineral exploitation.

Accordingly, two major developments in the mining sector can be observed: mining within protected areas and new mining legislation. In the region, the development of large-scale operations in protected areas has reached countries where historically the mining sector has not played a significant role. New mining activities in Costa Rica have singled out zones which, as a result of their great ecological value, are internationally recognised protected areas. The Bi-National Grand Basin Region of the San Juan River (SI A PAZ ), the Tilaran Mountain Range and the "La Amistad" Biosphere Reserve in the Talamanca Mountain Range, which was designated by UNESCO in 1982 as a World Heritage site, are examples.

In Ecuador, new legislation allows mining operations in protected forests, including concessions for the use of water sources. Transnationals such as RTZ have been involved in long-term disputes with peasants and environmentalist organisations, due to its exploration activities within the Podocarpus National Park. Although the law prohibits mining within zones marked as ecological reserves, the Canadian Teck Corporation worked in the Reserve of Cayambe-Coca, whilst Bishi-Metals has been involved in serious confrontations with grass-roots groups due to the company's operations within the Cotacachi-Cayapas Reserve.

An important element common to the new mining projects of Colombia and Ecuador is the overriding importance given to mining. In Colombia, this significance is shown in the fact that the activity is defined in terms invoking the supreme "national interest", whilst Ecuador favours "public interest".

Whose side the legislation protects is apparent in the fact that the full protection of the state is offered to mining developments, with the state granting the companies the right to request police protection in those instances where mining activities are considered under threat. Wording of this legal clause follows similar patterns in different countries but the result is unequivocal: opposition to mining activities is prohibited without exception, at the risk of legal and criminal sanctions.

The new Venezuelan project falls within the legal framework already described. What differentiates it from other projects is that in the elaboration of recent draft models there is an overwhelming participation of key people from the mining sector. The constitution of the committee in charge includes legal representatives of transnationals such as Bolivar Goldfields, Vengold, Carson Gold and Naxos Resources. This in itself represents an excellent illustration of the leverage of the mining sector and its capacity to constitute itself as legal representative of the national interest.

Through Diamonds Work, a company of recent creation formerly known as Carson Gold, the Friedland brothers have joined the largest landholders of the mining area known as Km.88, located in the Bolivar State (Chatterjee 1997). Furthermore, their influence is secured as this new venture has on its board the director of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce.

The notoriety of Robert Friedland is related to two important cases, one in his own country (USA) in which his Summitville mine caused an environmental disaster which required an estimated 152 million dollars for the clean-up process, and in Guyana through the Omai spill, the worst environmental disaster of South America.

Mining is defined as an area of "public and social interest" as well as of "national importance" (Article 2) which can take place in protected areas (Articles 6,12). The nation has ownership of the resources present in the subsoil (Article 11).

It follows from the "national importance" given to mining operations, that the administrative process of granting concessions comes to be defined as "decisions of national importance". As a result and eager to break away from the troublesome and bureaucratic process of granting concessions, the law grants the company the benefit of what has been defined as "positive silence". In other words, the authorities are given a specific number of days to evaluate a request, and delays or the absence of a negative reply within the allocated period automatically represent approval of the request (Article 10). Throughout the model, the legal artifice of the "positive silence" is applied again and again. The consequences of applying it to the Environmental Impact Assessment are totally ignored: it is not questioned whether the time given to read, understand, evaluate and provide elements for complex decisions is adequate. If on top of insufficient time one adds other chronic limitations, such as poorly staffed departments and underpaid professionals, the process of granting concessions becomes easy prey for corrupt deals and makes a mockery of the national importance given to the activity.

In terms of rights, the owner of a mining concession has been granted permission to take advantage of public water (Article 13) and to use additional lands as needed. Apart from claims to cover costs for damage, the company's use of private land does not give the landowner cause to obtain additional payments for indemnity (Article 15). Moreover, if a landowner refuses to grant access to additional land required for the operation of the mine, article 16 of the new law under discussion gives to the mining company the right to request from the local Court that authorisation to occupy the land be issued within 30 days of the request. Furthermore, in view of the fact that mining is defined as an activity of public interest, any unresolved discrepancy between the landowner and the company gives to the latter the right to expropriate.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to present an exhaustive analysis of the new mining law, currently being discussed in Venezuela. For example, financial benefits such as exemption from local taxes and the absence of funds for the rehabilitation of areas have not been examined. Just a few articles have been selected, due to their value in highlighting that the new law will have a significant impact across the society as a whole. The rights of indigenous communities - traditional inhabitants of protected areas - to defend their territories from mining encroachment is taken away by the law. Likewise, the law dispenses with individuals' property rights, as well as the right to differ from official notions of what should be considered "national interest". The result is that the civil society becomes the prisoner of a mining law which punishes citizen participation and hampers the pursuit of new forms of democracy.