Pemon conflict

The Pemon conflict is an ongoing conflict which is a part of the wider Crisis in Venezuela. The conflict is centred around mining disputes, and armed irregular groups.

Pemon conflict
Part of Crisis in Venezuela
DateLate 2018-ongoing
Location
Bolívar (state), Venezuela
Casualties and losses
+17 killed
+38 injured

Background

Violence and mining activity

In its 2018 report, the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV) classifies the Bolívar state as the third state with the highest homicide rate, out of 23 states and after Aragua and Miranda. One of the two factors that the OVV attributed the homicide rate was the mining activity of the municipalities that had the highest rates in the country: El Callao, Roscio (Guasipati) and Sifontes (Tumeremo). The OVV explains that in this zone different forms of violence and crime concentrate, including the zones control by organized crime and kingpins, the violent response of military forces in the zone and the recent presence of different guerilla groups. Besides the criminal activity of the armed irregular groups, there is also activite by security forces such as the FAES, with actions and operations that violate human rights, demonstrated by the lack of rule of law in the territory. Lastly the "privatization of violence", since the functions of the state are "being assumed in an arbitrary and private way by whichever of the armed groups that operate in the area.[1] According to Monitor de Vìctimas (Victims' Monitor), as of 2018 107 were killed in twelve massacres in Bolívar since 2016.[2]

Tumeremo massacres

On March 2016, 28 miners were murdered and kidnapped in the town of Tumeremo, Bolívar state. On the night of 4 March 2016, they were in the Atenas mine, on the border between the municipalities of Sifontes and Roscio, a poor area where, like most of the southeast of the country, the main economic activity is mining.[3] According to anonymous witnesses, the Banda del Topo ("Mole gang") arrived at the mine, allegedly with the aid and complicity of unidentified security forces, and may have dispersed hundreds of miners with an ambush, with dozens falling and dying in the stampede. The bodies were allegedly put in a truck and moved across the Guayana Esequiba border. Some said that parts of the victims were dismembered to intimidate the survivors.[4]

The Prosecutor General, Luisa Ortega Díaz, said that the remains of at least four of the disappeared miners were later found in the middle of the country and seemed to have been shot, but that they had no identification.[5][6] Ortega Díaz reported late on the night of 14 March 2016 that the search efforts for the disappeared miners had concluded with the discovery of 17 bodies total.[7] Tarek William Saab, the Ombudsman, subsequently announced on 15 March 2016 that the remains of 17 miners found in a mass grave in Tumeremo were wounded by firearms.[8]

The National Assembly created a Special Commission to investigate the events.[9]

Between 14 and 16 October 2018, miners at Los Candados mine were attacked in at least the third civilian massacre in Tumeremo since 2016.[10]

An opposition deputy for the state, Américo de Grazia, confirmed that the recovered bodies were of four men and three women. He also posted a thread of tweets showing several bodies, including those with gunshot wounds showing how they had been killed and abandoned.[11][12] As high as sixteen people were murdered,[11] and six people were reported injured.[10] Five survivors of the attack returned to their village to report the events.[13]

The National Liberation Army (ELN) was suspected of committing the massacre.[11] Shortly after the events, towards the end of October, armed violence broke out in Tumeremo, which de Grazia says began with the presence of government military forces.[14]

Pemon conflict

2018

According to the San Antonio de Roscio indigenous community captain, Ana Mercedes Figueroa, the tribe has had to organize since 2015 to resist against the threats of mining groups and "syndicates" directed by pranes (gang leaders) that not only try to control several mines, but also expel them from their territory, where gold exploitation makes harder the survival of the tribe. Since early 2018, the community started to protest against harsh life conditions, the murder of leaders allegedly committed by the Colombian National Liberation Army and the permanent harassment by organized crime groups that seek to control large territories where there is illegal mining and reportedly have direct relationships with state officials.[15]

On 8 October 2018, members of the Pemon indigenous community blocked, in the kilometer 67, the access to the road to Santa Elena de Uairén and to Brazil, the only road that connects Puerto Ordaz with the Venezuelan-Brazilian border, to protest against high food costs, lack of medicines to deal with diseases such as malaria, and the harassment of local gangs, as well as high transport prices, lack of fuel and domestic gas and speculation of the medical supplies prices.[15] After eight days of protest, Santa Elena de Uairén still lacked food, fuel and gas that was demanded by the demonstrators that closed the access. Opposition deputy Américo de Gracia declared that the indigenous people were victims of the indifference of the authorities.[16]

After President Nicolás Maduro assured in a press conference on 12 December 2018 that there were armed groups that infiltrated in some indigenous communities in the area bordering with Brazil, that the illegal mining in the south of the country is in the hands of "ecocidal mafias", blaming the political opposition for the violence in the zone, and denounced that the "indigenous people" who join them "destroy their community", Pemon people responded publishing a video on social media:[17]

 El delito comenzó cuando no presentó su partida de nacimiento al postularse a la presidencia. El delito se cometió cuando se nombraron de manera irrita a los magistrados del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia. Cuando se convocó a una constituyente ilegal, irrita y fraudulenta, cuando se nombró al Fiscal General de la República ilegalmente

 The crime started when you did not present your birth certificate when running for president. The crime was committed when the Supreme Tribunal of Justice justices were appointed in a null manner. When an illegal, null and fraudulent constituent was summoned, when the Attorney General of the Republic was appointed illegally

—Ricardo Delgado, Pemon Cacique

The Pemon also declared that candidate Andrés Velásquez won the 2017 regional elections in the Bolívar state, but that the executive branch imposed their candidate Justo Noguera, which the qualified as a crime. The video concluded saying "go away Nicolás, because you are Colombian".[17]

On 8 December, Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence officials arrived on the morning to the Campo Carrao sector, in the Canaima National Park. According to the locals, their purpose was to carry out a raid, but they ended up in the mines of the zone, something frequent also according to the locals, where they injured two Pemons of the Arekuna community. Another person was shot and killed by Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence officials, who were wearing plainclothes at the moment. Journalist Germán Dam denounced that the perpetrators moved in helicopters used by Corpoelec, the state owned electricity corporation. As a response to the attack, the indigenous community detained, desarmed and beat up the two perpetrators of the raid, while they also closed the runway near the town.[18]

2019
Main article: 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela
Venezuelan Dragoon 300s were deployed in Gran Sabana, near Pemon areas

Humanitarian aid was stockpiled on the Brazilian border, with the intent to bring it into Venezuela. On 20 February, Dragoon 300 armoured fighting vehicles of the Armored Cavalry Squadron were seen entering the Gran Sabana region.[19] Groups of indigenous Pemon peoples blocked the entry of the military vehicles into the region,[20] and members of armed forces loyal to Maduro fired upon them with live ammunition on 22 February.[20] Fifteen Pemon were injured, four seriously, and two Pemon were killed.[21][22] The injured were transferred to Brazil due to the shortage of medical supplies in the Venezuelan hospital of Santa Elena de Uairén.[20] Following the crackdown, indigenous groups detained thirty-six soldiers, held them in the jungle and set fire to a military outpost of the Santa Elena de Uairén airport.[23][24] Deputy Américo de Grazia, denounced the lack of medicine and ambulances to transport the wounded.[25]

Near the Brazil–Venezuela border, more than 2,000 indigenous people from Gran Sabana gathered to assist with the entrance of international aid.[26] Venezuelan authorities issued a capture order of the mayor of Gran Sabana and of the Pemon chieftains, accusing them of rebellion.[27] The Venezuelan National Guard repressed demonstrations near Brazil, while colectivos attacked protesters in San Antonio del Táchira and Ureña,[28] leaving at least four dead and about 20 injured.[29][30] A Venezuelan army post near Santa Elena de Uairén was attacked with molotov cocktails and stones.[31] Aid trucks destined to travel from Brazil into Venezuela did not enter Venezuela and returned to their departure points.[31] The Brazilian Army reported that Venezuelan authorities fired live ammunition at those attempting to accept aid[31] and that tear gas from Venezuela was fired into the Brazilian border city of Pacaraima.[32]

Former governor Andrés Velásquez declared that fourteen people were killed and that many of them had gunshots wounds in their heads, indicating involvement of snipers. He further explained that "many have died due to lack of attention because the Santa Elena hospital did not have blood, saline solution, reactives nor oxygen, or operating rooms to intervene the patients", that the people died bleeding and the hospital personnel could not do anything to help them.[33] Two ambulances carrying dead and wounded crossed the Brazil–Venezuela border and took them to the Roraima General Hospital, in Boa Vista, where medic records documented that everyone had gunshots wounds.[34] US senator Marco Rubio declared that Cuban agents directed repression in Ureña.[35] By the end of the conflict, Romel Guzamana, a representative of the indigenous community in Gran Sabana, stated that at least 25 Pemon were killed in what NTN24 described as a "massacre" by Venezuelan troops.[36]

On 22 November, at least nine people were killed in a mine in Ikabarú, in Bolívar, including a teenager, a Pemon and a National Guardsman.[37] On 10 December, a group of around forty Russian soldiers arrived to Canaima, Bolívar, on a Shaanxi Y-8 plane landing on the runway that serves as the entry to the National Park. Locals assured that the soldiers wore uniforms of the Venezuelan Armed Forces and that they carried crates with microwave equipment, satellite antennas, signal inhibitors, and other devices.[38]

In the dawn of 22 December, a group of around twelve armed Pemons, led by an Army deserter officer, captured the facilities of the 513 Mariano Montilla Jungle Infantry Battalion, located in the Luepa sector, in the Gran Sabana municipality. According to police information, after the assault to the battalion, the police received a call at around 4:58 am VST from officer Franco Efrain to notify that heavily armed individuals, feigning to be Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence officials, aimed at every active official, stripped them of their ordnance weapons (five pistols) and took a bulletproof vest.[39]

Journalist Román Camacho reported that according to police sources, ammunition and 112 rifles were obtained during the raid. The rebel military and Pemons later attacked a police station in San Francisco de Yuruaní, where they seized nine 9 mm pistols and five shotguns. While they were escaping, they found a military checkpoint, where a shootout started, and they ran to the trails. Government forces pursued and engaged again, when former National Guardsman Darwin Malaguera Ruiz was injured and detained. A soldier was killed during the shootout, and the government forces recovered 82 AK-103 rifles, 60 grenades and six 7.76 ammunition boxes.[39]

gollark: I'm no longer playing much so this accidentally happened to me.
gollark: Anyway, ARing.
gollark: What do you mean "30 secs"?
gollark: ARing.
gollark: So, none rotated?

See also

References
  1. "Cinco muertos dejó masacre en la Gran Sabana este viernes | Transparencia Venezuela". transparencia.org.ve. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  2. D'Hoy, Carlos. "107 personas han sido asesinadas en 12 masacres en Bolívar desde 2016". Monitor de Víctimas (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  3. "Miedo, desolación y ningún rastro de mineros desaparecidos a 48 horas de protesta en Tumeremo". Correo del Caroní (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  4. "Miedo, desolación y ningún rastro de mineros desaparecidos a 48 horas de protesta en Tumeremo". Correo del Caroní (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  5. "Hallaron restos de mineros desaparecidos en Venezuela", artículo del 14 de marzo de 2016 en el sitio web Cadena3.
  6. "Hallan restos de 28 mineros desaparecidos en Venezuela", artículo del 14 de marzo de 2016 en el diario La Voz de Galicia (España).
  7. Globovision. "Ortega Díaz: Hemos encontrado 17 cadáveres en Tumeremo". Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  8. Globovision. "Cuerpos hallados en Tumeremo presentaban heridas de bala". Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  9. "ACUERDO PARA LA CREACIÓN DE UNA COMISIÓN ESPECIAL QUE INVESTIGUE LOS HECHOS IRREGULARES OCURRIDOS EN LAS ZONAS MINERAS DEL MUNICIPIO SIFONTES DEL ESTADO BOLÍVAR". National Assembly of Venezuela (in Spanish). 8 March 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  10. "New massacre in Venezuela's Mining Arc". Oct 18, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  11. "Venezuelan Mining Massacre Suggests Expansion of Colombian Guerrilla Group ELN". www.theepochtimes.com. 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  12. "Américo de Grazia Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  13. "Mining Massacre Signals ELN Expansion Into Venezuela". InSight Crime. 2018-10-19. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  14. "Denuncian enfrentamiento armado en la ciudad de Tumeremo". El Universal (in Spanish). 2018-10-27. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  15. "Por comida, medicinas y contra el hostigamiento pemones cierran el paso hacia la frontera con Brasil". Transparencia Venezuela (in Spanish). 10 October 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  16. "Santa Elena de Uairen sin gasolina, gas, ni comida después de ochos días de protesta #15Oct". La Patilla (in Spanish). 15 October 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  17. "Pemones responden a Maduro: Fuera de aquí porque eres colombiano". NTN24 (in Spanish). 13 December 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  18. "Incursión del Dgcim en Canaima dejó un indígena fallecido y tres heridos (+Fotos y videos)". 2001 (in Spanish). 9 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  19. "Maduro envía tanquetas a Santa Elena de Uairén para evitar ingreso de ayuda desde Brasil (FOTOS)". La Patilla (in Spanish). 20 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  20. "Militares de Maduro tirotearon a indígenas pemón en la Gran Sabana: Una mujer asesinada y doce heridos (fotos)". La Patilla (in Spanish). 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  21. "Pemones heridos en ataque de la GNB son trasladados a hospital en Brasil por falta de insumos en Venezuela (FOTO y VIDEO)". La Patilla (in Spanish). 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  22. "As tensions over aid rise, Venezuelan troops fire on villagers, kill two". Thomson Reuters Foundation. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  23. "EN FOTOS: Más de dos mil indígenas intentan llegar a frontera con Brasil por ayuda". La Patilla (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  24. Escalona, José (22 February 2019). "Pemones quemaron puesto de control de la GNB en el Aeropuerto en Santa Elena de Uairén #22Feb" (in Spanish). El Impulso. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  25. "Venezuela: denuncian la muerte de dos personas en un enfrentamiento con soldados de Maduro en la frontera con Brasil". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  26. "En fotos: Más de dos mil indígenas intentan llegar a frontera con Brasil por ayuda". La Patilla (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  27. "Ordenan captura del alcalde de Gran Sabana y caciques pemones". El Pitazo (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  28. "Colectivos armados causan terror en San Antonio del Táchira (Foto)". EP Mundo (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  29. "Aumentan a cuatro fallecidos y 24 heridos, todos por armas de fuego, en Santa Elena de Uairén". La Patilla. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  30. "Venezuela: at least four dead and hundreds injured in border standoff". The Guardian. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  31. "Base venezuela é atacada na fronteira com o Brasil; atos, discursos e mortes marcam o Dia D de ajuda humanitária". GloboNews (in Portuguese). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  32. "'Nunca vi exército de outro país jogar bomba de gás no Brasil', diz coronel brasileiro sobre confronto na fronteira". GloboNews (in Portuguese). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  33. "Al menos 14 muertos en la frontera de Venezuela con Brasil". The Objective (in Spanish). 24 February 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  34. "Dos ambulancias cruzan de Venezuela a Brasil con muertos y heridos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  35. Nora, Gámez Torres (23 February 2019). "Rubio: agentes de Cuba dirigen represión en Ureña, Venezuela". El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  36. "Confirman 25 muertos en Santa Elena de Uairén y denuncian uso de presos para reprimir". NTN24 (in Spanish). 24 February 2019. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  37. "Ikabarú: lo que debe saber sobre la masacre" (in Spanish). Efecto Cocuyo. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  38. Barráez, Sebastiana (16 December 2019). "Los rusos instalaron equipos y drones en Venezuela con ayuda de un jefe indígena y la complicidad de militares chavistas" (in Spanish). Infobae. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  39. "Militares y pemones se sublevan y toman instalaciones militares en la Gran Sabana" (in Spanish). El Estímulo. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.