Bram Ebus
@bramebus.bsky.social
Investigative journalist and consultant for @crisisgroup.org, focusing on the environment, crime and conflict in the Amazon 🐍
Critical minerals are being extracted in areas under the control of guerrilla groups, involving systematic human rights abuses and accelerating environmental destruction in one of Earth’s most vital ecosystems.
Our Amazon Underworld article for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Our Amazon Underworld article for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping’: the lawless rush for rare earth minerals in Venezuela
Guerrilla groups have seized control of mining areas, exploiting Indigenous people and fuelling environmental ruin on the border with Colombia
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Critical minerals are being extracted in areas under the control of guerrilla groups, involving systematic human rights abuses and accelerating environmental destruction in one of Earth’s most vital ecosystems.
Our Amazon Underworld article for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Our Amazon Underworld article for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
For almost a year, we've been chasing the critical minerals (coltan, tin, rare earths, and more) of the Amazon and the dark interests behind their trade. Today, we've launched a series of articles and an investigative report, but there's more to come!
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
The Price of Progress: The Dark Side of Amazon Critical Minerals - Amazon Underworld
The global clean energy transition, increased defense budgets and technological advancement, has created unprecedented demand for rare earth elements and critical minerals essential for electric vehic...
amazonunderworld.org
November 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
For almost a year, we've been chasing the critical minerals (coltan, tin, rare earths, and more) of the Amazon and the dark interests behind their trade. Today, we've launched a series of articles and an investigative report, but there's more to come!
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...
Durante casi un año, hemos estado persiguiendo los minerales críticos (coltán, tierras raras, etc.) de la Amazonía y los oscuros intereses detrás de su comercio.
Hoy, con Amazon Underworld, hemos comenzado con una serie de artículos, ¡pero hay más por venir!
amazonunderworld.org/es/specials/...
Hoy, con Amazon Underworld, hemos comenzado con una serie de artículos, ¡pero hay más por venir!
amazonunderworld.org/es/specials/...
El precio del progreso: el lado oscuro de los minerales críticos en la Amazonía - Amazon Underworld
La selva amazónica revela una cruda paradoja: mientras los países compiten por alcanzar sus objetivos de energía limpia y aumentan los presupuestos de defensa en medio de crecientes preocupaciones por...
amazonunderworld.org
November 6, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Durante casi un año, hemos estado persiguiendo los minerales críticos (coltán, tierras raras, etc.) de la Amazonía y los oscuros intereses detrás de su comercio.
Hoy, con Amazon Underworld, hemos comenzado con una serie de artículos, ¡pero hay más por venir!
amazonunderworld.org/es/specials/...
Hoy, con Amazon Underworld, hemos comenzado con una serie de artículos, ¡pero hay más por venir!
amazonunderworld.org/es/specials/...
Indigenous peoples, proven to be the Amazon's most effective nature guardians, are increasingly facing mounting pressures from those after the rainforest's riches.
We're honoured to have Amazon defender Alessandra Munduruku as our guest writer.
amazonunderworld.org/the-crime-th...
We're honoured to have Amazon defender Alessandra Munduruku as our guest writer.
amazonunderworld.org/the-crime-th...
Crime bleeds the Amazon and invades our homes - Amazon Underworld
I write these words as I walk through the forest alongside my Munduruku people, doing the work that the Brazilian State refuses to do. In this first week of July, men, women, and children formed yet a...
amazonunderworld.org
September 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Indigenous peoples, proven to be the Amazon's most effective nature guardians, are increasingly facing mounting pressures from those after the rainforest's riches.
We're honoured to have Amazon defender Alessandra Munduruku as our guest writer.
amazonunderworld.org/the-crime-th...
We're honoured to have Amazon defender Alessandra Munduruku as our guest writer.
amazonunderworld.org/the-crime-th...
About a month ago, Tom Laffay and I visited the Comandos de la Frontera, a group that describes itself as a "21st-century guerrilla organization," controlling the borderlands of Colombia with Peru and Ecuador.
This is our Amazon Underworld story 👇🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇪
amazonunderworld.org/the-state-of...
This is our Amazon Underworld story 👇🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇪
amazonunderworld.org/the-state-of...
The State of coca - Amazon Underworld
Four unmarked white pickup trucks race through a patchwork landscape of bright-green plantations, blasting through mud puddles on winding jungle roads. As the convoy rounds a sharp corner, it draws wo...
amazonunderworld.org
August 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM
About a month ago, Tom Laffay and I visited the Comandos de la Frontera, a group that describes itself as a "21st-century guerrilla organization," controlling the borderlands of Colombia with Peru and Ecuador.
This is our Amazon Underworld story 👇🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇪
amazonunderworld.org/the-state-of...
This is our Amazon Underworld story 👇🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇪
amazonunderworld.org/the-state-of...
Hace aproximadamente un mes, Tom Laffay y yo visitamos a los Comandos de la Frontera, un grupo que se describe como una "organización guerrillera del siglo XXI," controlando las fronteras de Colombia con Perú y Ecuador.
Esta es nuestra historia 🇨🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨👇
amazonunderworld.org/es/el-estado...
Esta es nuestra historia 🇨🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨👇
amazonunderworld.org/es/el-estado...
El Estado de coca - Amazon Underworld
Cuatro camionetas blancas sin identificación corren por el paisaje verde brillante de las plantaciones, atravesando charcos en carreteras serpenteantes de la selva. Mientras el convoy toma una curva c...
amazonunderworld.org
August 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Hace aproximadamente un mes, Tom Laffay y yo visitamos a los Comandos de la Frontera, un grupo que se describe como una "organización guerrillera del siglo XXI," controlando las fronteras de Colombia con Perú y Ecuador.
Esta es nuestra historia 🇨🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨👇
amazonunderworld.org/es/el-estado...
Esta es nuestra historia 🇨🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨👇
amazonunderworld.org/es/el-estado...
This week, Bogotá hosts the Amazon Dialogues, where Amazon governments convene to discuss main challenges.
With our journalistic partners and @amazonwatch.org, we have publications lined up about the Amazon's most disputed borderlands and why this should be on the political agenda.
Stay tuned!
With our journalistic partners and @amazonwatch.org, we have publications lined up about the Amazon's most disputed borderlands and why this should be on the political agenda.
Stay tuned!
August 18, 2025 at 1:10 PM
This week, Bogotá hosts the Amazon Dialogues, where Amazon governments convene to discuss main challenges.
With our journalistic partners and @amazonwatch.org, we have publications lined up about the Amazon's most disputed borderlands and why this should be on the political agenda.
Stay tuned!
With our journalistic partners and @amazonwatch.org, we have publications lined up about the Amazon's most disputed borderlands and why this should be on the political agenda.
Stay tuned!
Reposted by Bram Ebus
La expansión de la minería ilegal en los estados Bolívar y Amazonas de Venezuela ha provocado una violencia generalizada contra la población local, especialmente contra las comunidades indígenas, así como daños ambientales que amenazan con destruir esta parte de la Amazonía.
La maldición del oro: Minería y violencia en el sur de Venezuela | International Crisis Group
La minería ilegal de oro está generando un daño cada vez mayor en el sur de Venezuela, a su delicado ecosistema y a su población. Frenar este daño es responsabilidad del gobierno de Caracas. Los gobie...
www.crisisgroup.org
August 11, 2025 at 4:13 PM
La expansión de la minería ilegal en los estados Bolívar y Amazonas de Venezuela ha provocado una violencia generalizada contra la población local, especialmente contra las comunidades indígenas, así como daños ambientales que amenazan con destruir esta parte de la Amazonía.
Record gold prices have made illegal mining more profitable than ever.
In the Venezuelan Amazon, this means not only organized crime is capitalizing, but state authorities like the army are involved as well.
Our new @crisisgroup.org briefing 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...
In the Venezuelan Amazon, this means not only organized crime is capitalizing, but state authorities like the army are involved as well.
Our new @crisisgroup.org briefing 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...
A Curse of Gold: Mining and Violence in Venezuela’s South | International Crisis Group
Illegal gold mining is doing growing damage to southern Venezuela, its delicate ecosystem and its people. Curbing this harm is up to the government in Caracas. Foreign capitals should use whatever mea...
www.crisisgroup.org
July 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Record gold prices have made illegal mining more profitable than ever.
In the Venezuelan Amazon, this means not only organized crime is capitalizing, but state authorities like the army are involved as well.
Our new @crisisgroup.org briefing 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...
In the Venezuelan Amazon, this means not only organized crime is capitalizing, but state authorities like the army are involved as well.
Our new @crisisgroup.org briefing 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...
Los precios récord del oro hacen que la minería ilegal sea más rentable que nunca, y en la Amazonía venezolana esto no solo significa que el crimen organizado aprovecha, sino también las autoridades estatales.
Nuestro nuevo informe de @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
Nuestro nuevo informe de @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
La maldición del oro: Minería y violencia en el sur de Venezuela | International Crisis Group
La minería ilegal de oro está generando un daño cada vez mayor en el sur de Venezuela, a su delicado ecosistema y a su población. Frenar este daño es responsabilidad del gobierno de Caracas. Los gobie...
www.crisisgroup.org
July 29, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Los precios récord del oro hacen que la minería ilegal sea más rentable que nunca, y en la Amazonía venezolana esto no solo significa que el crimen organizado aprovecha, sino también las autoridades estatales.
Nuestro nuevo informe de @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
Nuestro nuevo informe de @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪⛏️
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
Reposted by Bram Ebus
The U.S. Secretary of State cares so much for Venezuelans that he helped disappear hundreds of them to a hellhole in El Salvador to face horrifying abuse.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Standing with the Venezuelan People: One Year After Yet Another Sham Election - United States Department of State
One year since dictator Nicolás Maduro defied the will of the Venezuelan people by baselessly declaring himself the winner, the United States remains firm in its unwavering support to Venezuela’s rest...
www.state.gov
July 27, 2025 at 9:23 PM
The U.S. Secretary of State cares so much for Venezuelans that he helped disappear hundreds of them to a hellhole in El Salvador to face horrifying abuse.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
www.state.gov/releases/off...
In Venezuela's far east, where the Orinoco River meets the Atlantic Ocean, FARC dissident groups have seized control far from their Colombian origins.
This is what we discovered @armandoinfo.bsky.social / Amazon Underworld 🇻🇪🐍
amazonunderworld.org/es/disidente...
This is what we discovered @armandoinfo.bsky.social / Amazon Underworld 🇻🇪🐍
amazonunderworld.org/es/disidente...
Disidentes de las FARC alcanzan y controlan el extremo este de Venezuela - Amazon Underworld
En el extremo este de Venezuela, en la ruta fluvial a la desembocadura del Orinoco, se mueven decenas de hombres —uniformados y armados— identificados por la comunidad como disidentes de las Fuerzas A...
amazonunderworld.org
July 27, 2025 at 11:57 AM
In Venezuela's far east, where the Orinoco River meets the Atlantic Ocean, FARC dissident groups have seized control far from their Colombian origins.
This is what we discovered @armandoinfo.bsky.social / Amazon Underworld 🇻🇪🐍
amazonunderworld.org/es/disidente...
This is what we discovered @armandoinfo.bsky.social / Amazon Underworld 🇻🇪🐍
amazonunderworld.org/es/disidente...
1/ Today we kickstart Amazon Underworld, an alliance of investigative journalists and a project very close to my heart.
We have an amazing team that worked its socks off to begin providing you with new reporting from the Amazon 👇 🧵
amazonunderworld.org
We have an amazing team that worked its socks off to begin providing you with new reporting from the Amazon 👇 🧵
amazonunderworld.org
Home - Amazon Underworld
amazonunderworld.org
July 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
1/ Today we kickstart Amazon Underworld, an alliance of investigative journalists and a project very close to my heart.
We have an amazing team that worked its socks off to begin providing you with new reporting from the Amazon 👇 🧵
amazonunderworld.org
We have an amazing team that worked its socks off to begin providing you with new reporting from the Amazon 👇 🧵
amazonunderworld.org
Reposted by Bram Ebus
Nuevo Q& A | #Venezuela insiste en sus reclamos territoriales mientras se agudiza la disputa con #Guyana 🔽
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
Venezuela insiste en sus reclamos territoriales mientras se agudiza la disputa con Guyana | Crisis Group
La creciente tensión entre Venezuela y Guyana por la disputada región del Esequibo ha reavivado los temores de un conflicto fronterizo entre ambos países. En esta sesión de preguntas y respuestas, el ...
www.crisisgroup.org
April 8, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Nuevo Q& A | #Venezuela insiste en sus reclamos territoriales mientras se agudiza la disputa con #Guyana 🔽
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...
Reposted by Bram Ebus
“Bolsonaro stands accused of crimes including being involved in an attempted coup d’état and an armed criminal association and the violent abolition of the rule of law.”
Jair Bolsonaro charged over alleged far-right coup plot to seize power in Brazil
Former president is charged by attorney general following police report that accused him of organising a conspiracy to stop Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva taking power.
www.theguardian.com
February 19, 2025 at 1:17 AM
“Bolsonaro stands accused of crimes including being involved in an attempted coup d’état and an armed criminal association and the violent abolition of the rule of law.”
6 Guyanese soldiers wounded in shootout with suspected Venezuelan gang near disputed border. Attack on GDF supply boat at Cuyuni River comes amid rising tensions over Essequibo region.
February 18, 2025 at 3:44 PM
6 Guyanese soldiers wounded in shootout with suspected Venezuelan gang near disputed border. Attack on GDF supply boat at Cuyuni River comes amid rising tensions over Essequibo region.
The ELN's role in Venezuela goes beyond a strategic rearguard, as they have moved into gold mining districts and border areas, coinciding with Caracas' interests.
“We know that there is a tacit alliance on the federal level in Venezuela,” I told @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...
“We know that there is a tacit alliance on the federal level in Venezuela,” I told @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...
How Venezuela Helps Feed the Violence in Colombia
After finding refuge and building power in Venezuela, a decades-old rebel group has waged the worst violence in Colombia in a generation, setting off troubling regional tensions.
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The ELN's role in Venezuela goes beyond a strategic rearguard, as they have moved into gold mining districts and border areas, coinciding with Caracas' interests.
“We know that there is a tacit alliance on the federal level in Venezuela,” I told @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...
“We know that there is a tacit alliance on the federal level in Venezuela,” I told @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...
Reposted by Bram Ebus
The gravity of USAID's shuttering in #Colombia go well beyond gaps in the budget line.
Programs have been shut down in a way that could endanger communities and devastate U.S. access and credibility for many years. It also stands to destabilize #Colombia's delicate security🧵
Programs have been shut down in a way that could endanger communities and devastate U.S. access and credibility for many years. It also stands to destabilize #Colombia's delicate security🧵
February 6, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The gravity of USAID's shuttering in #Colombia go well beyond gaps in the budget line.
Programs have been shut down in a way that could endanger communities and devastate U.S. access and credibility for many years. It also stands to destabilize #Colombia's delicate security🧵
Programs have been shut down in a way that could endanger communities and devastate U.S. access and credibility for many years. It also stands to destabilize #Colombia's delicate security🧵
Reposted by Bram Ebus
“Trump’s cuts will hit Latin America’s most vulnerable populations, including millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as grassroots organizations providing essential care, guidance, and food are left without funding,” @bramebus.bsky.social
USAID is going away. Here's what it's been doing in South America
The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver a major blow to efforts including humanitarian assistance in Colombia, conservation efforts in Brazil and coca eradication...
apnews.com
February 6, 2025 at 7:16 AM
“Trump’s cuts will hit Latin America’s most vulnerable populations, including millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as grassroots organizations providing essential care, guidance, and food are left without funding,” @bramebus.bsky.social
Reposted by Bram Ebus
“Trump’s cuts will hit Latin America’s most vulnerable populations, including millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as grassroots organizations providing essential care, guidance, and food are left without funding” @bramebus.bsky.social tells @apnews.com 🔽
apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com/article/trum...
USAID is going away, and along with it cocaine-fighting efforts and Amazon rainforest protection
The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver a major blow to efforts including humanitarian assistance in Colombia, conservation efforts in Brazil and coca eradication...
apnews.com
February 5, 2025 at 3:04 PM
“Trump’s cuts will hit Latin America’s most vulnerable populations, including millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as grassroots organizations providing essential care, guidance, and food are left without funding” @bramebus.bsky.social tells @apnews.com 🔽
apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com/article/trum...
“Marrugo and his team had been researching the effects of mercury on human health at the start of the millennium when they began noticing that the Guarumo tree was thriving in spots where gold had been processed.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Illegal Gold Mining Contaminated This Land. Trees and Plants Are Healing It
Mercury left behind by wildcat miners polluted areas of northern Colombia. Restoring them to health depends on a surprisingly low-tech solution.
www.bloomberg.com
February 4, 2025 at 2:26 AM
“Marrugo and his team had been researching the effects of mercury on human health at the start of the millennium when they began noticing that the Guarumo tree was thriving in spots where gold had been processed.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Reposted by Bram Ebus
This @enpax.bsky.social environmental peacebuilding webinar had Erika Weinthal @eswein.bsky.social Bram Ebus @bramebus.bsky.social & JoJo Nem Singh sharing insights on mining for green energy to criminal actor impacts in the Amazon to transboundary water coop/conflict www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahZ0...
Environmental Peacebuilding: The Year in Review and the Year Ahead
YouTube video by Environmental Peacebuilding
www.youtube.com
February 2, 2025 at 5:52 PM
This @enpax.bsky.social environmental peacebuilding webinar had Erika Weinthal @eswein.bsky.social Bram Ebus @bramebus.bsky.social & JoJo Nem Singh sharing insights on mining for green energy to criminal actor impacts in the Amazon to transboundary water coop/conflict www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahZ0...
Reposted by Bram Ebus
Super impressive Amazon Underworld multimedia platform by @bramebus.bsky.social & colleagues. Loads of stories & data to map the "criminal ecosystem" of the Amazon. amazonunderworld.org
Amazon Underworld
Crime and corruption in the shadows of the world's largest rainforest
amazonunderworld.org
January 23, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Super impressive Amazon Underworld multimedia platform by @bramebus.bsky.social & colleagues. Loads of stories & data to map the "criminal ecosystem" of the Amazon. amazonunderworld.org
With @crisisgroup.org, we spoke to officials, refugees, smugglers, and law enforcement in the Darién Gap. Sealing it off would crush human rights, fail to stop migration, and empower crime.
Yet the incoming Trump administration is determined to push ahead.
Yet the incoming Trump administration is determined to push ahead.
Trump administration will close down the Darien Gap, incoming border czar Tom Homan says
In an interview with NBC News, Homan also acknowledged that people without criminal records may get caught up as "collateral arrests" in mass deportation raids.
www.nbcnews.com
January 13, 2025 at 3:41 PM
With @crisisgroup.org, we spoke to officials, refugees, smugglers, and law enforcement in the Darién Gap. Sealing it off would crush human rights, fail to stop migration, and empower crime.
Yet the incoming Trump administration is determined to push ahead.
Yet the incoming Trump administration is determined to push ahead.
For the Amazon Basin, 2024 has been a brutal year. Nevertheless, there is much that can be done in 2025: “If the political will is there, international backers will step forward to finance new strategies to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest,” I told @apnews.com
Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024
The Amazon rainforest staggered through another difficult year in 2024. A second year of record drought contributed to wildfires that worsened deforestation across the massive forest, which spans Braz...
apnews.com
December 30, 2024 at 2:13 PM
For the Amazon Basin, 2024 has been a brutal year. Nevertheless, there is much that can be done in 2025: “If the political will is there, international backers will step forward to finance new strategies to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest,” I told @apnews.com