In Venezuela, damage from party on sacred mountain spurs outrage
By:Reuters
Published: Feb 11, 2022, 24:08 CST•2min read
By Maria Ramirez PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela (Reuters) – A birthday party held on a mountain sacred to indigenous Venezuelans has generated outrage over damage to the area in an episode critics see as entitled excess playing out amid Venezuela’s prolonged economic collapse.
Last week, party-goers celebrating the birthday of businessman Rafael Oliveros were ferried in helicopters to a pristine flat-topped mountain known as Kusari, located in the Canaima national park in southern Venezuela’s ecologically rich Amazon region, according to a statement by environmental group SOS Orinoco.
In the indigenous Pemon language, such mountains called “tepuy,” are revered, including for their extremely rare and fragile plant life.
“This was a violation of Mother Earth because these are sacred, untouchable mountains that we’ve traditionally watched over, conserved and respected, just like our ancestors,” Nazario Rosi, a 63-year-old Pemon elder, told Reuters.
More:
https://www.fxempire.com/news/article/in-venezuela-damage-from-party-on-sacred-mountain-spurs-outrage-895304
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Google translation from article written in Spanish:
Caracas, February 09, 2022.- The party of the president of Grupo La Marea and general director of Camp Canaima, Rafael Oliveros, on his 50th birthday, caused a stir in public opinion not only because of the number of celebrities invited. , also for the environmental damage that ecological organizations affirm that said celebration caused in a Venezuelan tepui .
The SOSOrinoco Organization affirmed that the celebration at the top of the Kusari Tepuy (Cerro Venado), located in the Canaima National Park, violates the Partial Regulation of the Organic Law for Territorial Planning on the Administration and Management of National Parks and Natural Monuments, which prohibits the conglomeration of people and "any activity in densities of more than one person for every thirty (30) square meters." As well as the landing of civil aircraft in areas not authorized for it.
"Having a big party, wedding or private celebration, anywhere in the Canaima National Park, a World Natural Heritage Site, is considered a lack of respect for the Pemón culture, since all the tepuyes are considered sacred by the Pemón people."
Various media reported that in the celebration, where the presence of the "Czar of Beauty" Osmel Sousa stood out, not only did aircraft land on more than one occasion, for the transfer of the guests. Also, activities were carried out that modified the terrain of the tepui for the installation of chairs and tents.
Pronouncement of the SOSOrinoco
Part of the land used for the celebration of the businessman Rafael Oliveros, in the
Tepuy Kusari of the Canaima National Park.
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A National Park is a superlative, exceptional natural space that belongs to all Venezuelans, which due to its immense value, not only ecological but also symbolic, must be treated as a SACRED TEMPLE of nature, and therefore with veneration and respect. The tepuyes are sacred and highly respected by the Pemón people, ancestral inhabitants of the Gran Sabana and Canaima.
A Natural World Heritage Site (recognized by UNESCO) is a creation of Nature that is considered one of the most extraordinary and valuable on the entire Planet, and therefore the country that owns it must guarantee all of Humanity that this condition of grandeur will remain unchanged forever.
Canaima National Park, a World Natural Heritage Site, is governed by the Partial Regulation of the Organic Law for Land Management on Administration and Management of National Parks and Natural Monuments, Decree No. 276, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Venezuela No. 4,016 extraordinary dated 06/09/89.
Holding parties, on the top of a tepuy, within a National Park that is the only Natural World Heritage Site that has been registered for Venezuela, violates, in addition to the philosophy and concept of the figures that protect it, the following articles of the Regulation 276:
Article 19 of the "Prohibited Activities" within the national parks : Because they are totally incompatible with the purposes of their creation, they are considered, among others: crowds of people and any activity in densities of more than one person for every thirty (30 ) square meters, as well as the landing of civil aircraft in areas not authorized for it.
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Pajamas and kits delivered to guests
The guest Osmel Souza shows through his networks the temporary camp that was set up for the party: individual tents, equipped with "pajamas to sleep with the name of each one".
We understand that Rafael Oliveros, as director of Camp Canaima, signed a commercial agreement with Conviasa through ConViaje, "with the purpose of encouraging tourism in the town with "all-inclusive" packages."
Mr. Oliveros says “We must believe and work for the necessary economic transformation of Venezuela, moving from a model of an oil rentier country to a diversified power. Tourism is a key factor for this, it is a transversal sector that touches companies and communities. It has an impact in many ways, for example, from the moment each visitor enters the airport until they sit down to eat in a hotel, when they visit an artisan near the area where they are staying or create jobs in a community as isolated as Canaima or Los rocks. It is a dynamic sector that must be developed intelligently and competitively.”
The type of tourism and activities that Venetur and Rafael Oliveros are promoting in national parks, even more, a World Heritage Site like Canaima, violates the regulations that are designed to precisely protect the ecological fragility of this unique place on the planet.
The "Czar of beauty" was present at the celebration at the Tepuy Kusari
https://puntodecorte.net/sos-orinoco-fiesta-privada-realizada-en-la-cima-de-un-tepuy/
Make yourselves at home everywhere, of course, dirtbags.
= new reply since forum marked as read
ByAFP
Published February 10, 2022
SOS Orinoco NGO says tapuis are sacred to the Pemon indigenous
people - Copyright AFP Dave Chan
Venezuelan prosecutors are investigating an alleged party held on a table-top mountain in a protected Amazonian national park, an official said Thursday.
A group of revelers, including local celebrities, allegedly flew to Kusari Tepuy in the Canaima National Park by helicopter last Friday and threw a party, according to images shared widely on social media.
Tepuis are table-top mountains unique to Amazonian areas of Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said prosecutors are “investigating the damage done in the Canaima National Park by a party organized there by a company and a group of people.”
Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/venezuela-opens-probe-into-table-top-mountain-party/article#ixzz7KYs4qUZ5
