Searching for income and despite environmental fears, Venezuela boosts coal output

FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro participates in a demonstration to mark Indigenous Resistance Day, in Caracas, Venezuela, October 12, 2025. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo

(Reuters) -Venezuela, casting around for income amid U.S. sanctions, recently restarted coal production with a Turkish company and is looking to export more than 10 million tons of the fuel this year, company sources say.

But the mining is occurring without environmental safeguards, polluting local air and water, according to a company source with knowledge of the operations, Indigenous leaders and members of local communities.