Stop the killing of those who defend life. We condemn the vile assassination of Virgilio Trujillo Arana, the Uwottüja indigenous leader and defender of the Venezuelan Amazon.
The CLACSO Working Groups Political Ecology(ies) from the South/Abya-Yala and Territorialities in Dispute and R-existences They strongly condemn the vile assassination of the Uwottüja indigenous leader and defender of the Venezuelan Amazon, Virgilio Trujillo Arana.
Virgilio fought against illegal mining in the Alto Guayapo region (Autana municipality, Amazonas state) and the presence of armed groups in his territory, which threaten the lives of Indigenous communities. The Uwottüja leader was one of the founders of the Ayose Huyunami Indigenous Guard, established to defend his territory using his own resources against these threats.
Indigenous organizations and those supporting these communities in the Amazon have indicated that Trujillo Arana had received threats for his activism, and that he was shot last Thursday, June 30, in a neighborhood of Puerto Ayacucho (Amazonas state).
For years, the Uwottüja indigenous communities have denounced the presence of irregular armed groups in their territories, highlighting the dangers they face and requesting protection measures from the competent authorities[1].
It is precisely in the face of the alarming advance of mining interests, armed and criminal groups seeking to control territory, the corruption of state officials, and the lack or insufficient action of the authorities, that several indigenous communities in the Venezuelan Amazon have been forming territorial guards as a mechanism to guarantee life in their ancestral lands.
Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable social groups in the dramatic Venezuelan crisis, given that their rights are being openly violated and a large part of their lands have not been demarcated or titled, as established by the 1999 Constitution.
The Venezuelan Amazon is currently under extraordinary pressure and aggression, with mining activity being the primary driver of devastation. The Orinoco Mining Arc mega-project has spurred mining activity in the region, further damaging not only its delicate ecosystems but also its defenders.
In Venezuela, environmental and land defenders are also being murdered, as in the cases of Yukpa chief Sabino Romero, Uwottüja leader Freddy Menare, and the various massacres against Pemón communities. In March 2022, four Yanomami indigenous people were killed by Venezuelan soldiers.
Our working group notes with great concern that this situation reflects what has been happening to the rainforest and nature defenders throughout the Pan-Amazonian bioregion.
We demand the clarification of this murder and the urgent implementation of measures to protect indigenous peoples, custodians of ancestral practices and knowledge valuable for confronting the Venezuelan crisis.
We demand the necessary resumption and completion of the processes of demarcation and self-demarcation of indigenous lands, demanded for many years by indigenous peoples.
We reject the persistent push for predatory mining in the Venezuelan Amazon, and we call for the search for alternatives to the crisis that are consistent with the defense of life.
Justice for Virgilio Trujillo and all defenders of the Amazon.
July 2, 2022
CLACSO Working Groups
Political ecology(ies) from the south/Abya-Yala
Disputed Territorialities and R-existences
[1] See: https://provea.org/actualidad/desde-2013-comunidades-indigenas-denuncian-presencia-de-guerrilla-e-irregulares-a-amazonas-y-bolivar/; https://www.ecopoliticavenezuela.org/2020/03/09/pronunciamiento-del-pueblo-uwottuja-piaroa-ante-la-presencia-de-grupos-armados-y-actividad-minera-en-su-territorio/; https://watanibasocioambiental.org/pueblo-uwottuja-de-la-cuenca-del-sipapo-autana-solicita-proteccion-de-su-territorio-ancestral/
This statement expresses the position of the aforementioned Working Groups and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
