Venezuela’s Rural Social Movements Condemn Murder of Two Peasant Activists

[Bacchus39]

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6146

Coro, April 18th 2011 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Earlier this week, an affiliation of rural social movements took to the streets of La Pedrera, Barinas state, to protest the kidnapping, torture and murder of two peasant political activists last week. The numerous organisations which included; the Revolutionary Current of Bolivar and Zamora, the Ezequial Zamora National Peasant’s Front, the Worker’s Popular Power Movement, and the Antonio José de Sucre Socialist Community Peasant Centre, demanded an investigation into the murders and urged the government to take further action to end impunity for the perpetrators of assassinations against peasants. Waving banners and flags, the crowd gathered outside the public prosecutor’s office and chanted slogans such as “lucha, lucha, lucha!” (We will fight, fight, fight!).

The two murdered activists, José Joel Torres Leves and Agustín Gamboa Duran, were members of the Ezequial Zamora National Peasant’s Front in Barinas. On the 12 April 2011 they were forcibly taken from their houses during the night by six armed men wearing masks, who then smuggled them into a pickup truck. The two men’s bodies were then found on the 14 April under a bridge in the surrounding area, bringing the number of peasants murdered in Venezuela since 2001 to 250 – with no convictions to date.

In a statement released by the Revolutionary Current of Bolivar and Zamora, the organization attributed the murders to members of Venezuela’s state security forces, commenting that the way in which the abductors were dressed, as well as the vehicles and arms that they carried, were reminiscent of state security personnel - particularly those such as DIM, GAES, CICPC and SEBIN, who conduct counter-insurgency activities against guerrillas at the border. Criticising the use of old practises within Venezuela’s security forces, the statement continues:

“It’s no secret that a culture of torture and human rights violations still persists within our security forces, despite having a government that has worked to eliminate these practices”.

[naaman fletcher]

1. It's two bad state security murders peasent activisits in Venezuela

I wish Chavez would do something about it.

[Bacchus39]

2. another notable detail is that no-one has ever been convicted of any of the murders n/t

s

[killbotfactory]

3. Those against land reform are not on the side of Chavez

Peasants involved in political activism have become increasingly under threat since the Land Reform Law of 2001 was passed, inciting violence from reactionary landlords. Reported cases include accounts of landowners hiring hit men to execute peasants and intimidate them into abstaining from further political mobilisation for progressive land reform.

In a comment made to Radio del Sur, a peasant leader stated:

“We will not allow the fascists from the 4th Republic (the political system that prevailed before Hugo Chavez’s 5thRepublic Movement took power) to stamp out the development of revolutionary social movements.”

Security forces are corrupt in most countries, but it seems to have been a huge problem in Venezuela for quite some time. The homicide rates in the country have also been egregiously high for some time. One of the hardest jobs of any government is keeping security forces honest. As they have a powerful influence on all levels of government. One of the hardest jobs of any government is addressing the levels of violence seen in Venezuela. As the root causes of the violence can take generations to address, and usually it means investing in communities and welfare programs, which people with money feel they don't deserve. People with money also hold a large amount of influence in the government.

I would be more willing to take Chavez critics seriously if they would drop the juvenile notion that Chavez is indeed a dictator who pulls the strings of every level of government in the country, and is therefore every problem is evidence of a failure on the part of Chavez.

[Bacchus39]

4. the escalating violence is evidence of failure undoubtedly

the lack of an independent judiciary is a failure. do what Chavez wants or you go to prison. the Congress is a rubber stamp although not so much now although the previous Chavista congress gave him extraordinary powers before the new congress was sworn in. So its not like Chavez doesn't want to pull all the strings or isn't trying.

whatever you want to say about Uribe is fine, but his policies reduced the level of violence in Colombia signficantly and did not take decades.

Economically, Chavez' policies have been generally poor and attempts at economic diversification of the country through seizures seem to be almost completely ineffective. add to this the price controls that make agriculture unprofitable. the recent post on Venezuelan coffee reflects that.

excellent coffee in Venezuela by the way and with the world market very high you would think that this would stimulate the sector. but alas, price controls.

then again, oil is quite high so even an agency as incompetent and corrupt as PDVSA can't screw up the one good thing the country has going for it economically.