Vestey men still at it but Chavez saves the day!

Chávez orders immediate liberation of indigenous peoples fenced in by English corporation in Apure.

February 25th 2008, by Luigino Bracci Roa

Photo: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez

Caracas, February 25, 2008, (YVKE Radio Mundial) - President Hugo Chávez ordered quick and decisive action Sunday in order to liberate 200 Yaruro indigenous people who have been encircled by fences built by Agroflora, an affiliate of the British Vestey Group, according to denunciations filed by Representative Cristóbal Jiménez and ratified by the Minister of Agriculture and Land, Elias Jaua. Also, 800 other indigenous people remained outside of the fences. "The farm put up a fence around them and they can't get out without permission from the farm owners," Jiménez explained.

"When the English company bought the Morichito farm from Vicente Pérez Soto, in the document the indigenous people were included," Jiménez pointed out. Pérez Soto was a governor in the era of Juan Vicente Gómez, at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Jaua met with the president of Agroflora and informed her that nearly 10,000 acres will be confiscated by the state so that the indigenous peoples can move about freely.

President Orders Immediate Liberation of Indigenous Peoples

"This is a flagrant violation of indigenous rights," the president said. He ordered that this Monday the National Guard, accompanied by a judge and a public prosecutor, shall demolish the fences, allowing the indigenous people to recuperate their right to move freely. "If they want to demand something from the State, then they shall demand it, but we cannot permit them to fence in an indigenous community," Chávez proclaimed.

Representative Jiménez also deplored that Agroflora posseses hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the state of Apure, specifically the Caña Pístola farm, which occupies over 185,000 acres, the Turagua farm, which occupies over 74,000 acres, the Punta de Mata farm, and the 260,000 acre Los Cocos farm. The director of the National Land Institute (INTI), Juan Carlos Loyo, confirmed that the majority of these lands are not being used for production because Agroflora claims they constitute a natural reserve. In response, Chávez asserted that if that is true, then natural reserves should pertain to the State and not to a private consortium.

Rockefeller in Apure: In the End, It's All About the Oil

President Chávez told the story of how foreign companies acquired huge tracts of land at the beginning of the twentieth century with the intention of controlling the oil below the surface. They did this in the states of Zulia, Barinas, Apure, and in eastern regions of the country. "They got rid of the indigenous peoples and the farmers, and later on the big machinery arrived to take away the oil," Chávez recounted.

Jiménez further argued that Nelson Rockefeller was a stockholder in the Invega Corporation, which owned the El Frío farm in the state of Apure, where Rockefeller visited several times while he was the governor of New York between 1959 and 1973.

Rockefeller, who was born in 1908 and died in 1979, was also vice president of the United States between 1974 and 1977 under the presidency of Gerald Ford. He was the paternal grandson of John Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil Company who was considered the richest man in the world during his time. Standard Oil was later converted into Exxon Mobil, which today is the most profitable oil corporation in the world. Exxon Mobil is currently taking judicial action to freeze foreign assets of PDVSA, which nationalized the Orinoco River Belt where Exxon Mobil owned property.

More Large Estates

Jiménez also recommended reforming the federal Land Law. He argued that currently, the Land Law defines an estate as a holding of idle, uncultivated land, but the definition should be changed to mean any large piece of land owned by a small number of people that is not serving the social good.

The representative also mentioned other estates of various owners, like the 260,000 acre Los Cocos farm, the 99,000 acre Mata de Palo farm in the municipality of Achaguas, the 67,000 acre Los Viejitos farm, the 100,000 acre Las Delicias farm, and El Porvenir, which occupies over 100,000 acres. The owners of all of these estates have only been able to demonstrate original property ownership of less than 10,000 acres. Chávez asked for an immediate investigation of these lands.

Translated by: James Suggett
Original Source: http://www.radiomundial.com.ve/yvke/noticia.php?3338
Source URL: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/
Printed: February 26th 2008
License: Published under a Creative Commons license (by-nc-nd). See creativecommons.org for more information.

Fact sheet: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THE BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION IN VENEZUELA

As part of its program of 21st Century socialism the Venezuelan Government, under President Hugo Chavez, is recognising the enormous cultural contribution of Indigenous peoples and is working to assure their place in the future of national social, political, and economic life. The Venezuelan Government acknowledges the injustices faced by Indigenous communities and an effort is now being made to repay the historical debt owed to them.

26 different Indigenous groups exist in Venezuela today, around 535,000 people, or about 2.1% of the national population and are known in their own languages as the Wayúu, Warao, Pemón, Añú, Yanomami, Jivi, Piaroa, Kariña, Pumé, Yecuana, Yukpa, Eñepá, Kurripakao, Barí, Piapoko, Baré, Baniva, Puinave, Yeral, Jodi, Kariná, Warekena, Yarabana, Sapé, Wanai, and Uruak.

In 2002 the Venezuelan Government changed the name of Columbus Day to

DAY OF INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE

LEGAL GUARANTEES FOR INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

Chapter 8 of the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution establishes a framework for Indigenous rights. It begins with Article 119, which reads:

The State recognizes the existence of native peoples and communities, their social, political and economic organization, their cultures, practices and customs, languages and religions, as well as their habitat and original rights to the lands they ancestrally and traditionally occupy, and which are necessary to develop and guarantee their way of life.

Constitutional guarantees regarding Indigenous rights also include:
- the use of natural resources
- respect for ethnic and cultural identity
- the exercise of traditional economic practices
- protection of intellectual property
- the right to political participation.

One element of the constitution guarantees Indigenous peoples "the right to their own education, and an education system of an intercultural and bilingual nature, taking into account their special social and cultural characteristics, values and traditions."

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Creating opportunities for Indigenous participation in democracy in Venezuela has been a priority of the current government. The 1999 Constitution requires that the National Assembly, Venezuela's lawmaking body, must include Indigenous representatives. Like the other 164 members of the National Assembly, three Indigenous representatives are elected though a popular vote among their constituencies. Indigenous community leaders helped draft the section of the constitution on indigenous rights.

Communal councils provide a model for local government that is energising citizen participation in Venezuela. These organizations allow community members to identify and solve problems in their own communities, and get financial support from the government to do so. In indigenous areas, the communal councils provide a new format for organization around the principles of democratic citizenship.

GOVERNMENT-FUNDED SOCIAL PROGRAMS

• Mission Guaicaipuro, named for an Indigenous leader who resisted Spanish Colonial rule, was launched on October 12, 2003. The mission is a government-funded program that seeks to restore communal land titles and human rights to Venezuela's numerous indigenous communities, in addition to defending those rights against resource and financial speculation by the dominant culture.
• Mission Identity is a massive citizenship and voter registration campaign which has given millions of Venezuelans national ID cards, including almost 274,000 Indigenous persons. With the granting of ID cards, they were able to exercise full citizenship rights – state benefits, constitutional protections – for the first time. This is just one way in which the state is attempting to undo past injustices that have kept Indigenous populations outside of democratic structures.

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND GLOBALISATION

As globalisation has come to affect all cultures throughout the world, Venezuela has emerged as a leader in the effort to make Indigenous rights a truly international cause.

Indigenous organising at the national level in Venezuela began in 1989, when the National Indigenous Council (CONIVE) was founded to protect traditional lands and defend Indigenous sovereignty against unbridled industrial and commercial development. CONIVE now incorporates 60 organizations and representatives from 32 Indigenous groups in Venezuela. It has begun to work with other native groups in South America to discuss advocacy strategies and create international pressure to preserve indigenous lands and rights.

Since 2003, Venezuela has hosted an annual International Encounter of Resistance and Solidarity of Indigenous and Peasant Peoples. Moreover, in August of 2007, Venezuela hosted the First International Meeting of Anti-Imperialist Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, in which delegates from 45 different countries participated.

"THE FIRST PRESIDENT EVER TO DO THIS"

Under President Chavez, Venezuela has seen unprecedented collaboration between the state and Indigenous communities. For example, the National Telecommunications Commission is training young people from 10 different ethnic groups in the Amazon region and other rural areas to produce community media. Infrastructure was provided in October of 2007 to enable radio broadcasts in native languages on 8 new radio stations that will be networked with the public Venezuelan National Radio. This and other initiatives are helping to promote indigenous culture.

In June 2006, CONIVE's "First National March of the Indigenous People" expressed solidarity with the policies of President Chavez. The orientation of the Chavez government, which is focused around giving value to history and the principles of equality, justice, and solidarity with all peoples, is a boast to the struggle for Indigenous rights in Venezuela and around the world. Noeli Pocaterra, an indigenous rights activist from the Wayúu community and a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly has said, “Simon Bolivar, the first liberator, gave back the lands, the best lands, to the original inhabitants. But President Chavez is the first president to ever do this to dispossessed Indigenous.”

To find out more on how Venezuela is changing its society for the better and to support their revolution contact the:

Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network

Ph) (07) 3831 2644 or 0401 586 923

Email) brisbane@venezuelasolidarity.org

www.venezuelasolidarity.org