Venezuela: Peasants denounce an «ecocide» after being forcibly evicted from their land by a private textile company

A group of peasants in Venezuela denounced that a private textile company carried out an illegal eviction from their properties, destroyed all the crops, killed dozens of animals and demolished their homes, with the protection of a municipal police force and the local mayor. The case has caused a stir within the Executive and arrived this Thursday at the heart of the National Assembly.

The company, identified as Guatire Textil, would have evicted the Villa Zamora 21 settlement in the Miranda state, one hour from Caracas. According to the complainants, the mayor of that municipality, Raziel Rodríguez, gave the order to the police officers to remove the peasants from the property, accusing them of been «invaders».

The fact became known after the political scientist Lennys Medina, a direct relative of one of the five affected families, denounced through Twitter the intervention of the property and showed photos and videos about the events.

«Imprisoned without justification»

In statements to RT, Medina explained that the eviction began on April 12, despite the fact that the peasants had a permit that awarded them the agrarian charters of that land, granted by the National Land Institute (INTI).

To collaborate with the police, four of the inhabitants of the rural community agreed to accompany the uniformed officers to a police station to clarify their situation in Villa Zamora 21, but when they arrived there, they were arrested.

“Four people were imprisoned under deceit and without justification, including my grandfather Exiquio Ruiz, 76 years old, an elderly person and cultural heritage of the municipality. They pushed them and left them detained for 27 hours without any explanation, without any arrest order, without anything that said that this was a. legal action», said Medina.

Lenny’s mother, Reina Ruiz, who was also held in the police command, asserted that during the hours that they were deprived of their liberty, they were also intimidated. «Our human rights were violated», she said, after demanding compensation for the damage caused.

An ecocide in Venezuela

While the peasants were being held at the police station, police officers together with the security team from the textile company entered the property with ‘dragging’ machinery to destroy some 8,000 square meters of productive crops. According to the testimony of those affected, they also brought down several houses, killed dozens of animals and felled centennial native trees.

«Not only did they destroy their houses, it is also an ecocide. It is a grievance against people’s food, it is an evil against people who day after day use their hands and tools to make crops grow», added Medina.

When the complaint was known, national government officials expressed their repudiation and expressed their support for the families affected by visiting the place to bring supplies, investigate what happened and place a security guard.

The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, reported that Mayor Raziel Rodríguez will be charged for the events and released an audio obtained by the Public Ministry, in which the mayor is heard giving the order to destroy the settlement because, according to him, it was of a «ranchería» and an «invasion» that did not have any permit.

The Minister for Communes and Social Movements, Jorge Arreaza, reiterated that those affected have the support of the State and promised justice in the face of «such an outrage». Similarly, the deputy to the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, described the act as a «fascist» act.

A go-kart track

This Thursday, the matter escalated to Parliament. During a speech, deputy Cabello called for the creation of a Special Investigation Commission, which was unanimously approved, to study the facts and alleged crimes committed by the textile company, the mayor, city hall workers and the local police.

«A commission must be installed to investigate, question, do everything it has to do to stop and curb any fascist outbreak in this country», said Cabello, who urged that the same Commission investigate the reports of other abuses in other regions of Venezuela. .

As for what happened on the property in Guatire, Cabello assured that the objective of the company and the mayor was «to set up a karting track on the land of the peasants».

«We have seen fascism head-on, the mayor’s show is an act of fascism against a defenseless people (…) in another Venezuela it could stay like this, with us it cannot stay like this, that’s why we have to defend them», the parliamentarian pointed out.

The head of the Venezuela parliament speaks

The president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, described the eviction as an «absolutely unacceptable» action that must be punished. “Who comes up with the idea of tearing down centennial samanes to put up a karting track?”, he questioned.

«To associate with people with money to evict voters from your municipality, committing crimes after crimes, allowing brutal ecocides like the one that was allowed, cannot go unnoticed, cannot be overlooked and cannot be minimized either, we must be exemplary and I mean the entire country, the entire State, the entire Republic. May the force of the State be felt against those who committed these crimes”, added the head of the National Assembly.

In the next few days, according to what was agreed, the Commission must go to the property, interview the peasants, question the mayor, the policemen and the businessmen involved.

The parliamentary group is made up of Deputy Ricardo Molina, as president; Azucena Jaspe, as first vice president; Óscar Rondero, in the second vice presidency; and deputies Pedro Infante, Rosa León, Blanca Eekhout, Eirimar Malavé, Juan Carlos Alvarado and Nixon Maniglia.