The Venezuelan dictatorship censors an oil spill in one of its most important refineries

At the El Palito Refinery (Carabobo, Venezuela), one of the largest refineries in the country and located in front of the Caribbean Sea, there has been a large oil spill for at least two days. However, the media have not been able to fully report on the situation because the dictatorship under Nicolás Maduro prevents them from carrying out their work, according to the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP).

The union explained that officials from the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, one of the regime's political police forces, prohibited several journalists from covering the news recorded at the refinery.

"Officials from the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim) prohibited coverage of the fuel spill at the El Palito Refinery, Carabobo, to the journalists Ruth Lara Castillo and María Torres and the photojournalist Juan Carlos Gutiérrez this December 27," the union wrote on its X account (formerly Twitter).

The censorship occurs at a time when there is little information about the extent of the spill, which are likely affecting the Venezuelan coasts. Photographs and videos were published on social networks showing the blackened seashore, as well as PDVSA personnel working without proper equipment to clean a beach that is near the refinery.

"Environmental disaster in Venezuela"

The non-governmental organization, which brings together former workers in the national energy industry, explained that during 2023 at least 17 similar events have occurred.

In that sense, Gente del Petróleo detailed that some beaches in the state are affected by the situation. "We do not know the amount of hydrocarbons that was spilled (...) we know that the constant rains overflowed the oxidation lagoon in which the waste was stored," said the group's coordinator, Beatriz García, who stressed the importance for the authorities to explain if there was a failure in the drainage system in some statements collected by the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional.

Meanwhile, the Azul Environmentalists Foundation indicated that this "environmental disaster" harms the resorts of Puerto Cabello, a tourist area located about 200 kilometers from Caracas. "Venezuela's coasts once again affected by an oil spill. The environmental disaster in the waste lagoon of the El Palito refinery, in the state of Carabobo, has affected the resorts of Puerto Cabello since Tuesday, December 26," the foundation wrote in its X account (formerly Twitter).