Merchants traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, fishing vessels, even the occasional tourist: all are tempting targets for pirates off Venezuela’s northern state of Sucre.
By Insight Crime
Oct 15, 2021
In early October, Venezuela’s agency for maritime safety and rescue (Organización Nacional de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima de los Espacios Acuáticos de Venezuela – Onsa) established new risk zones for pirate attacks in a new report, based on incidents in recent years.
The most dangerous area in the country, carrying the highest level of warning, was in the northern state of Sucre, especially the stretch of water between the city of Carúpano and the Paria national park.
This area received national attention in September due to the case of Fabio Tavares. On September 14, Tavares was sailing alone from Panama to his native Brazil. As he passed near the Paria península, off the coast of Sucre, he was allegedly intercepted by four boats, each reportedly carrying around ten men armed with automatic weapons. He set off a distress call but his ship was captured, towed back to shore in Venezuela and a ransom of $100,000 was allegedly demanded for his release.
Two days later, Tavares arrived in Trinidad and Tobago where he told his story to authorities, stating he had been tortured in a camp where he had seen human remains. Questions remain unanswered about his experience, including whether any ransom was paid, why he was let go so quickly and who these remains belong to.
Despite these questions, this story is similar to others reported in the area. In 2020, over 150 attacks on vessels were reported in Sucre, up from 120 in 2019, according to data from the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia — OVV).
In the report, Onsa also lamented the lack of action from the government. “From the Paria national park to Delta Amacuro, it’s out of control, it’s a danger zone. The authorities, including the army, should have control of the area…the level of criminality and piracy is far from normal,” said Onsa Secretary General Luis Guillermo Inciarte said at a press conference to release the report.
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While Onsa statistics show that piracy in Venezuela has increased steadily over the last ten years, the organization says the situation has become worse than ever.
According to Inciarte, reports of piracy attacks are dwindling, not because of fewer attacks, but because the groups responsible have a tighter rein on local communities and authorities do not respond.
“The gangs that attack ships off the Paria península have two modus operandi. Sometimes, they pretend their ships have broken down and they attack those who try to help them, or they send various boats to surround their targets, as happened with the [Fabio Tavares’s] Klinker,” Inciarte told InSight Crime.
Onsa also stated that the gangs of pirates have grown stronger. “We call them pirates but, while we don’t know the identity of these groups, their capacity to act can be compared to drug trafficking gangs who operate between Venezuela and the Caribbean,” explained Inciarte.
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Read More: Insight Crime – The coast of Sucre – Venezuela’s most dangerous place for Piracy
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