Already on Manuel Piar, a main San Félix thoroughfare in the south of the country it was rumored that this Friday, December 9th, there will be protests again. After 9:00 in the morning, it stopped being a rumor and became a reality. It was the second consecutive day of protests that took place in this region.
By Pableysa Ostos/ Correspondent lapatilla.com
The reason remained the same: the rise of the dollar (exchange rate) and the military operations that have been carried out for more than a month in the mining areas located in the south of Bolívar State.
Bladimir Josué Tremaria, President of the United Front of Socialist Workers of Bolívar State, pointed out that on this second day of protest they continue to bet on the defense of the mining workers. “Men and women who fight every day to support their families. They are the brothers who live in the south of the Bolívar State, which in recent days have been violated by an operation called Roraima.”
“Well, here the call is to the President of the Republic, the call is to the Attorney General, to stop the violence against the miners. The miners are workers, men and women worthy of their wages. It is time to strongly support the small mining people. It is time to all go out together to defend these men and women who in the last 4 years, in times of crisis and pandemic, have been an economic alternative for the country. That is why we meet with the entire construction sector in support of these workers,” Tremaria stressed.
The union leader pointed out that the workers of the Chirica Municipal market, located on the avenue where the barricade took place, also joined the protest because they denounced not being able to work, since they do not have the required permits “they belong to the informal economy and they also depend on the mining that takes place in the south of Bolívar State. The revitalization of the economy in Bolívar depends on the south of the state. We miners are not criminals, we are workers whose livelihood depends on the miners of Guyana.”
Persecution
The demonstrators assured that some 50,000 mining workers are being affected by the entire situation that has been generated throughout the mining towns. They highlight that this population has grown exponentially in recent years, since not only are residents of the Bolívar State practicing mining, but also residents of other states of the country.
“This non-oil option has given support to the country’s economy,” Tremaria said. “We will continue to take to the streets peacefully, in a generalized way to support the workers whatever their category, until these operations, misnamed Roraima, cease. These are violating the workers, let the Prosecutor keep an eye on this situation. This Friday we have a meeting with the governor to start some dialogue tables,” he pointed out.
The union leader stressed that “they have not directly threatened me but this Thursday, December 8th, an irregular situation occurred with the wife of one of the union leaders. They came to her house, to intimidate her.”
“When we protest, the security forces pass us by on one side and the other, but we are not going to give in until these outrages stop, much less when they are the ones who are producing for the country,” added Bladimir Tremaria.
First Episode
The cycle of protests began on December 8th in various parts of the Bolívar State, indicated the lawyer José Gregorio Beria and endorsed what Tremaria said, “it is a protest against the abuses of Operation Roraima. Here the people of the neighborhoods who live from small mining, who have some type of business, are affected by the paralysis in the southern municipalities. This led to various neighborhood organizations, social organizations and workers organizations, to decide to start protests in Bolívar State with the peaceful closure of some roads.
Beria explained that the protesters “demand that Major General Julmer Rafael Ochoa Romero, commander of the Bolívar Integral Defense Operational Zone (ZODI), the commander of the Guayana Strategic Integral Defense Region (REDI), M/G Alfredo Román Parra Yarza, and the Operational Command to stop the repression and the abuses against the merchants and small miners in the south of the Bolívar State, who have been the object of extortion and robbery, in an operation that has neither “head nor tail” (haphazard), because they are not persecuting criminals, but damaging the economy.”