Archaeological Looting in Venezuela

Since the summer of 2010 until the present, Venezuela has been affected by a severe socioeconomic and political crisis. This began during the presidency of Hugo Chávez (2002 – 2013) and has worsened during the authoritarian presidency of successor Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026). This period has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, crime, and mortality rates. While the food shortages and hyperinflation have largely ended, inflation still remains high. The process deeped during a period of political instability starting in 2017/8 and accusations of usurpation of power by Maduro, repression of the media, disappearance of opposition figures. All these various factors have resulted in massive instability and emigration.

Following the 2014 and the 2017 Venezuelan protests, and activities both during the 2017 Constituent Assembly election and the 2018 presidential election, the United States applied sanctions against specific Venezuelan government entities and individuals associated with the Maduro administration, along with sanctions applied by the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland. These have exacerbated the problems of the country. 

Archaeological looting in Venezuela is a significant issue, primarily driven by the ongoing economic collapse and political turmoil, which has diverted national attention and resources away from preserving archaeological and other cultural heritage sites which are left exposed and vulnerable to destruction. This lack of effective guardianship, coupled with high poverty rates, has created an environment conducive to illegal excavation for commercial profit. The basic need for survival has led some impoverished individuals to engage in looting as a way to generate income, selling artefacts on both illicit and legitimate markets. Despite a national law, the Ley de Protección y Defensa del Patrimonio Cultural, which provides penalties for unauthorized exploration or damage to sites, enforcement is a major challenge. The general breakdown of the rule of law and the focus on other severe human rights issues and criminal activity in the country has meant little focus on heritage protection. Indeed, the problem is so bad that recent graves are also being looted for any valuable items such as jewellery they may contain. 

Venezuela is a State Party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention, aimed at combating the illicit trafficking of cultural property, and accordingly, a Technical Committee to Combat Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Assets was established in Venezuela in 2004 to promote awareness, training, and coordination. The problem in Venezuela is part of a broader, global issue where conflict and economic instability correlate strongly with the rise of archaeological looting, highlighting the difficulty of protecting heritage in the face of humanitarian crises.

References:
'Latin America’s Endangered Archaeological Sites', The Latin American Post, September 13, 2024.

Time to Switch to laser shows and formation lightweight drones?

                    A night of violencde and destruction             

Fireworks will no longer be allowed on New Year’s Eve in the Netherlands. A ban on unofficial fireworks is due to come into force in 2026. According to the Dutch Pyrotechnics Association, a record €129m (£112m) had been spent on them this year.

On the night of January 1, the historic neo-Gothic Vondelkerk church burned down in Amsterdam, it is believed that the roof caught fire after fireworks landed on it. The building cannot be restored. The neo-Gothic basilica was designed by architect Pierre Cuypers whose works also include the Rijksmuseum. Across the country, riots and attacks on police and firefighters were reported. About 250 people were arrested for arson and illegal use of pyrotechnics. Several people nationwide were killed on New Year’s Eve.

 Germany saw a similar situation: in Berlin, more than 400 people were detained during the holiday night due to riots and attacks on police. Traditionally, the streets of the German capital turn into a version of hell on New Year’s Eve. In France, 813 cars were burned overnight. At least two people, including a 12-year-old child, had fingers blown off while setting off fireworks.

Dozens of people are feared dead and around 100 more were seriously injured after a fire broke out during New Year’s celebrations at a bar in Switzerland, authorities said. Initial findings showed the fire that spread among the mostly young crowd of revellers in Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana was likely caused by pyrotechnics setting fire to the ceiling, the local prosecutor said.

Christmas 2025

I am not going to wish anyone a Merry Christmas this year. These are dark times.

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“I came… where are the children?” Russians have killed about 700 children in Ukraine, wounded thousands, kidnapped tens of thousands.

As we celebrate Christmas this year, we must not forget about many Ukrainian families who are in pain today because of the russian aggression.… pic.twitter.com/rgmzSGm71O

— Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@rshereme) December 24, 2025

Source.

Meanwhile, in the country that we used to kid ourselves we had a 'special relationship' with.... 'ICE Detains Undocumented Parents, Newborn. They await deportation proceedings' (Charlotte Clymer, Charlotte's Web Thoughts Dec 24, 2025).  

The MAGAmerican view of History: Greenland and the US Heritage

           Greenland, not part of America         
 

The President of the United States of America, ostensibly speaking for the citizens of that country,  is renewing calls for the USA to take Greenland, the massive island controlled by Denmark, appointing a special envoy to "lead the charge" apparently to allow its territory to be taken over by the USA (Michael Loria, 'President Trump says US needs Greenland for 'national security'...', USA Today 23/12/2025). Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Any changes to that status are for Greenlanders and Danes alone to decide. Sadly the addle-brain senior citizen clearly predicates his country's foreign policy on utter ignorance: 

Trump: "We need Greenland for national protection. They have a very small population. They say Denmark, but Denmark has no military protection. They say that Denmark was there 300 years ago with a boat—well, we were there with boats too I’m sure".

Nevertheless that "we" (the United States) did not exist until 1776, just 249 years ago. On the other hand, Norse Vikings demonstrably reached Greenland around 985 AD, and Denmark established colonies there in 1721. There is very clear archaeological and historical evidence for this. US academia has, as far as I can see, resigned from a public role of being opinion formers and been pretty slow in addressing this and issuing a public information statement what THEY think the case to be (where are they?). 

In fact, the US has had a military presence in Greenland for several decades and has essentially been invited by Denmark to station there as many more troops and assets as it wishes. So the US does not "have to have" Greenland for national security. There also is, we in "Yurope" might remind Mr Trump, a binding treaty between the US and other North Atlantic nations (including Denmark) to provide a collective defence, so there is no need for him to do this. Respect for sovereignty, integrity and the inviolability of borders is the foundational principle of international law, and must be upheld by all states without exception. The US, even under Trump, should continue to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other sovereign states and to abide by their international commitments, enshrined inter alia in the United Nations Charter and the North Atlantic Treaty. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement that the island would decide its own future.

Meanwhile, the new Trump-appointed special envoy:

Governor Jeff Landry @LAGovJeffLandry Dec 22
Thank you @realDonaldTrump! It’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!

Just to put this in context, see what an utter mess the USA has left as its heritage in Greenland from a previous occasion when they were there: Ben Panko, ' A Radioactive Cold War Military Base Will Soon Emerge From Greenland’s Melting Ice: They thought the frozen earth would keep it safely hidden. They were wrong', Smithsonian magazine August 5, 2016.

Victoria Herrmann, 'Unearthing the Arctic's Toxic Past: Camp Century and Cold War Secrets', High North News, 11.08.2016 .

Julia Rosen, 'Mysterious, ice-buried Cold War military base may be unearthed by climate change' Science.org 4 Aug 2016.

Camp Century American military base in Greenland (1959–1967) Wikipedia.

Katie Hunt, 'A doctor was deployed to an Arctic research station during the Cold War. Decades later, he learned its secret purpose' CNN, Sat March 15, 2025.

Ukrainian Border Guards Foil Coin Smuggling to Bulgaria

'Ukrainian Border Guards Stop Attempt to Smuggle Ancient Greek Coins to Bulgaria', BGNES 14.12.2025

Ukrainian border guards have stopped an attempt to smuggle ancient Greek coins out of the country to Bulgaria, The bronze coins, believed to date from approximately the 4th to the 2nd centuries BC, were discovered by officers of the Izmail Border Guard Detachment at a border crossing point. According to the authorities, a Ukrainian woman traveling to Bulgaria attempted to transport the artifacts concealed among her personal belongings. The woman did not possess the necessary permits required for the cross-border transportation of cultural or historical objects. The collection has been seized pending a court decision.

Italy Arrests Artefact Hunters Supplying the Antiquities Market

 Italian authorities announced on Friday the arrest of 34 suspected “tombaroli", or tomb raiders accused of looting artefacts from archaeological sites in Sicily and the neighbouring region of Calabria (Alvise Armellini, 'Italy arrests 34 'tomb raiders' suspected of looting archaeological sites' Reuters,  December 12, 2025).  According to information released by the Catania prosecutors’ office, in raids in Sicily, authorities seized approximately 10,000 archaeological artefacts, among them about 7,000 coins issued by various Greek city-states that once existed in ancient Sicily. Also seized were "hundreds of clay and terracotta vases, as well as bronze rings, brooches, and arrowheads". Prosecutors have estimated the total value of the recovered items at "around 17 million euros ($20 million)". Nine individuals were placed in pre-trial detention and a further 14 under house arrest in Sicily,on charges including criminal conspiracy, theft of cultural property, trafficking in stolen goods, and counterfeiting, according to police and prosecutors. A clandestine lab was also discovered a  in the eastern Sicilian province of Catania that  produced fake ancient coins, pottery and copper artefacts. Also seized were some presumed looted coins in Germany, where they had been smuggled for resale. 

In Calabria, two people were put in pre-trial detention and nine under house arrest on similar charges. Prosecutors from the town of Catanzaro said the suspects had operated with the "implicit consent" of a local Ndrangheta mafia clan. The suspects kept phone contacts to a minimum for fear of being wiretapped, and used agricultural code words in their conversations, such as "asparagus" or "fennel", to disguise their illicit activities, prosecutors said. In the suspects' lingo, "chainsaw" stood for "metal detector", they added. 

I  think two features are of especial interest in this one. First of all yet another case where gangs of  portable antiquities middlemen being actively engaged in fake production to bulk out the material they supply to dealers. Some of whom (because what else are they going to do with them, once bought?),  will sell them on to unsuspecting buyers as originals. Secondly this is the second case in a matter of weeks that investigators have gone after the (German) coin dealers who buy this illicit material and pass it onto the market. Let's see more of this - but this time with arrests. 

Yet Another British Museum Theft

Tess de la Mare, 'Hundreds of items taken in high-value museum raid' BBC 11/12/2025
More than 600 culturally significant artefacts have been stolen from the Bristol Museum’s archive in what police have described as a high-value raid. The theft occurred in the early hours of 25 September at the museum’s archive facility in the Cumberland Basin area of the city. Items taken include military memorabilia, jewellery, natural history specimens, and carved figurines made of ivory, bronze, and silver. Detectives have released CCTV images of four men seen in the area following the theft of part of the museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection. Avon and Somerset Police said they want to speak to the men in connection with the incident. A museum spokesman said staff discovered the theft the following day and described the scene as devastating. “It looked like it had been ransacked,” he said. “Boxes had been opened and spilled, shelves were in disarray, and collections were scattered across the floor.” The stolen objects form part of the former British Empire and Commonwealth Museum collection, which was donated to Bristol Museum after the museum went into liquidation in 2013. Among the items taken were military badges and pins from the East India Company. The city council confirmed that the archive was broken into twice, with around 95% of the items stolen during the second raid. The CCTV images released by police relate to that second incident.

Why was the news released so late? The theft occurred in September, but the public appeal and detailed disclosure only came in December, apparently to allow police to complete initial inquiries and for museum staff to audit and confirm exactly what was missing.