June 10 (Reuters) - Venezuela has deployed troops to target illegal groups controlling key gold deposits, according to local residents and human rights activists, as the government seeks to attract foreign investment to the long-stalled mining sector.
Troops have been deployed near Las Claritas in southern Bolivar state, according to residents and activists who monitor the area. The town is one of the main hubs of illegal gold mining in the mineral-rich Orinoco Mining Arc, a vast area near Venezuela's borders with Guyana and Brazil.
Venezuela's Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the government has not publicly addressed the operation.
Five residents told Reuters they heard explosions and gunfire, keeping many people off the streets and forcing businesses to close.
"Bombs and gunfire could be heard in the jungle," a 45-year-old resident said. "There are mines in those areas. This is bad; you can't go out."
A shopkeeper in Las Claritas said drones flew low overhead for hours during the night. All of the residents declined to be named out of fear for their safety.
Non-governmental organizations and U.N.-backed investigators have said much of the mining activity in the region is controlled by organized crime groups and armed factions.
"The Venezuelan Army is deploying a massive operation in Las Cristinas and at Km 88 in Bolivar state," rights group Provea said in a post on X. "We warn of the risk of extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions against the civilian population in the area."
The operation comes as Venezuela's new government tries to reopen sectors long closed to foreign capital. In January, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, leaving Delcy Rodriguez to take up the post on an interim basis. Since then, Washington and Caracas have discussed steps to revive oil and mining investment.
Venezuela passed a new mining law in April aimed at encouraging investment from abroad, while U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said that the government had pledged security guarantees for incoming companies.
Canadian miner Crystallex had planned to develop the Las Cristinas gold project until former President Hugo Chavez halted the project in 2008 as part of a broad nationalization drive that spanned electricity, telecommunications, cement, steel and oil.
After those takeovers, foreign investment in mining remained limited. Some experts now see scope for a near-term recovery in exports, particularly gold, but warn the sector will require massive investment as well as renewed exploration.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Jamie Freed)
