The National Assembly approved an agreement in which it recognizes, supports, and expresses its solidarity with the indigenous peoples who have resisted and maintain their culture, economy, and society in their ancestral and original ways, in addition to demanding the immediate expulsion of the guerrillas who operate in indigenous territories.
By CCN – Centro de Comunicación Nacional
Oct 13, 2020
The agreement was approved during the ordinary session held this Tuesday, October 13th, via Internet, which establishes that President (e) Juan Guaidó will take the necessary measures to restore and effectively guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples and communities to land and habitat, health, food security, and personal security, in accordance with the Constitution and current laws.
The document also states that a formal complaint should be submitted before international bodies regarding the human rights violations committed against indigenous peoples and communities by the genocidal tyranny of Nicolás Maduro Moros and his collaborators.
It was also agreed to demand that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) immediately expel the guerrilla groups that make a living in the lands and habitat of the indigenous communities and peoples. As is established in the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela with regard to the defense of the territorial integrity of the nation.
Finally, the document states once again that only with the formation of a National Emergency Government and the departure of Nicolás Maduro Moros from power will it be possible to work to honor the commitment to continue promoting the ancestral rights of indigenous peoples.
The sovereignty of indigenous peoples must be respected
The president of the Amazonian Parliament, indigenous deputy Romel Guzamana, presented the agreement to the plenary, where he requested the expulsion of the guerrillas and irregular armed groups from the ancestral territories and the restitution of the rights of the indigenous peoples.
“The indigenous peoples and communities of Venezuela have been systematically attacked by irregular armed groups, who have invaded and destroyed their territories. We want this message to reach the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, so that the necessary measures are taken to watch over the original peoples of Venezuela and to respect their sovereignty”.
He called on all the indigenous peoples of the world and of Venezuela to sharpen their arrows, to arm their bows, to be in defense and not adrift, in the face of threats from irregular groups, in complicity with the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB).
He exhorted the FANB to put an end to the hostile attitude against the indigenous people, to become their friends, to defend Venezuelans who are attached to the constitution and the laws and not to the Maduro regime.
We will continue to resist until this dictatorship falls
Gladys Guaipo, president of the Permanent Commission of Indigenous Peoples, said that in order to commemorate October 12th, the day of indigenous resistance, what used to be ‘El Día de la Raza’, that the ethnic groups are an indestructible race, that they continue in resistance.
It considers this date to be very dark due to the systematic violation of the human rights of indigenous people by this regime, which has done nothing but “lead them to human misery, as well as all Venezuelans.”
She said that the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, is clear evidence of the serious situation of human rights violations against Venezuelans, and above all against Indigenous peoples, in which there is a marked absence of civility and democracy. She added that the Commission of Indigenous Peoples categorically rejects the dubious convocation of the Dec 6th parliamentary elections, which she qualified as illegal due to a lack of transparency, as well as the authorities that make up the Electoral Power.
“We, the Indigenous Peoples, are going to work together to promote a popular consultation to hold free, fair and verifiable presidential and parliamentary elections. We continue in resistance until this dictatorship falls and democratic guarantees are reestablished, so that the peoples, with their uses and customs, retain their ancestral and cultural values of coexistence in all the indigenous communities of Venezuela.
In Venezuela, indigenous resistance has not ceased
While the indigenous deputy for the southern region of Apure-Amazonas, Javier Linares, stated that on October 12th, 1492, the indigenous resistance was born in America, which still survives in the face of the abuses suffered by the indigenous communities.
He assured that indigenous resistance has not ceased in the country, because they are exploited and dispossessed of their territories and are also victims of human trafficking. “The regime is indifferent to this situation, it is only interested in its own wealth, which has only brought about the bleeding of Venezuelans.”
The ecocide in the Venezuelan Amazon must be stopped
Deputy for the State of Amazonas Julio Ygarza, president of the Permanent Commission for Culture and Recreation, expressed his support for the agreement for the protection and defense of the country’s indigenous peoples.
He pointed out that, 528 years after October 12th, 1492, the day of indigenous resistance, the native peoples continue to fight for their collective rights. He presented to the plenary the pronouncement of some of the indigenous ethnic groups, in defense of the sovereignty of their territories, in which they indicate their rejection of the exploitation of illegal mining in indigenous territories.
“They also reject the use of ethnic territories for the activity and transit of drug trafficking. They demand that all national and foreign armed persons be evicted from indigenous territories. They demand that the usurper government explain why it supports the irregular groups that are found in indigenous territories.”
Congressman Ygarza specified that the indigenous people of the municipality of Atabapo are requesting the total closure of the Orinoco River boats that lead to the mines in the Yapacana National Park. Ygarza also recalled that in the community of Gavilán more than 250 indigenous people demonstrated to demand the immediate departure of an armed camp located in indigenous territory.
“The struggle of our indigenous peoples for their rights is permanent. The world and friendly countries have to look to the Venezuelan Amazon, they are destroying the ecosystem, our biodiversity, and are disintegrating the heart and soul of our native peoples, where their culture, their worldview, their sacred sites are, where they go through all stages of their lives. This ecocide must be stopped,” stressed Congressman Ygarza.
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