Pemon conflict

Pemon conflict
Part of the Crisis in Venezuela

Bolivarian Army of Venezuela in Gran Sabana, a Pemón area
DateLate 2016 – present
Location
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Venezuela National Bolivarian Armed Forces
Venezuela Colectivos
ELN
Tupamaro

Venezuela Pemon territorial guard
Venezuela Rebels of the 513 Infantry Battalion
Venezuela Armed Pemon and civil rebels
Venezuela Pemon and civil demonstrators

Supported by:
 Brazil (until 2023)
Venezuelan and Brazilian organized crime groups
Commanders and leaders
Nicolás Maduro Indigenous leaders Unknown
Casualties and losses
1 soldier killed
Several soldiers and colectivos wounded
+50 soldiers captured
53 Pemons killed
1 rebel soldier killed
80 disappeared
+100 civilians wounded
1 rebel soldier captured
+57 arrested
Unknown

The Pemon conflict is an ongoing conflict which is a part of the wider Crisis in Venezuela. The conflict is centered around mining disputes between the Maduro government, the Pemon nation (indigenous people that live in the Gran Sabana region in southeastern Venezuela) and armed irregular groups. The Pemon nation is divided by the border between Venezuela and Brazil, resulting in Pemon refugees regularly crossing the border into Brazil for safety and medical care. The conflict is centred on disputes over mining in the Orinoco Mining Arc,[1] a 112,000 km2 area of the Amazon Rainforest rich in gold, diamonds, coltan, and uranium,[2] which are also home to the Pemon people.

On 24 February 2016 the "Arco Mining Orinoco National Strategic Development Zone" was officially created, a government sponsored mining project.[1][3] Venezuelan scholars, the opposition National Assembly and the NGO PROVEA have publicly expressed their concern at the violation of rights of indigenous communities and its environmental impact.[4][5][6][7][8] In 2020, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, denounced that workers in the Orinoco Mining Arc had been subjected to serious abuse and violence.[9] In March 2016, 28 miners were killed and kidnapped in the town of Tumeremo, Bolívar state,[10] and between 14 and 16 October 2018, 16 miners at Los Candados mine were killed and 6 wounded in at least the third civilian massacre in Tumeremo since 2016.[11]

During the 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela and after supplies were stockpiled on the Brazilian border, Venezuelan Dragoon 300 armoured fighting vehicles of the Armored Cavalry Squadron entered the Gran Sabana region.[12] Indigenous Pemon blocked the entry of the military vehicles into the region and clashes between both groups followed suit.[13] On 22 February, the day before the delivery was set, soldiers loyal to Maduro fired upon them, killing two and wounding fifteen,[13] and the Pemon responded by capturing soldiers and setting fire to a military outpost of the Santa Elena de Uairén airport.[14] The following day more than 2,000 indigenous people from the region gathered at the border to assist with the entrance of the aid.[15] The Venezuelan National Guard repressed demonstrations near Brazil,[16] leaving at least four dead and about 20 injured.[17] By the end of the conflict, National Assemblyman Romel Guzamana, a chieftain of the Pemon community in Gran Sabana, stated that at least 25 Pemon were killed.[18] The National Assembly declared that 80 Pemons had disappeared since the massacre, in addition to the death toll claimed by Guzamana.[19]

The vast wealth located in the Mining Arc makes indigenous lands prime real estate for both state-sanctioned and illegal mining operations, at the cost of widespread ecological damage and displacement of indigenous peoples living in conflict zones. A series of turf wars in the Gran Sabana between the armed forces, guerrillas, and organized crime groups, combined with the power struggle between Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó, have created the ongoing conflict.

  1. ^ a b Ebus, Bram (8 June 2019). "Venezuela's mining arc: a legal veneer for armed groups to plunder". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Todo lo que debes saber sobre el Arco Minero del Orinoco (+Infografía)". Desde la Plaza (in European Spanish). 18 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Miedo, desolación y ningún rastro de mineros desaparecidos a 48 horas de protesta en Tumeremo". Correo del Caroní (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  11. ^ "New massacre in Venezuela's Mining Arc". Oct 18, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  12. ^ Krystian (2019-02-20). "Tanquetas militares llegan a Santa Elena de Uairén". Descifrado (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  13. ^ a b Molina, Hernan Porras (2019-02-22). "FAN tiroteó a indígenas pemón en la Gran Sabana: Dos asesinados y quince heridos". Entorno Inteligente (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  14. ^ Escalona, José (22 February 2019). "Pemones quemaron puesto de control de la GNB en el Aeropuerto en Santa Elena de Uairén #22Feb" (in Spanish). El Impulso. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Indígenas venezolanos intentan llegar a frontera con Brasil para presionar ingreso de ayuda". La Nación (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  16. ^ "Colectivos armados causan terror en San Antonio del Táchira (Foto)". EP Mundo. 23 February 2019. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Venezuela: at least four dead and hundreds injured in border standoff". The Guardian. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference :15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference :16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).