Jim McIlroy & Coral Wynter, Caracas
Paramilitaries infiltrated across the border from Colombia have murdered 1700 people in the south-western region of Venezuela over the past two years, according to Luis Tascon, the May 5 daily Diario Vea reported.
Tascon is a deputy in the National Assembly, which is composed entirely of supporters of socialist President Hugo Chavez following elections last December. Among those killed were more than 40 leaders of peasant organisations, as well as social movement activists and members of Venezuela's armed forces.
Peasant activists have been targeted for assassination since the Chavez government passed a land reform law in 2001 opening the way for the redistribution of land holdings that exceed 5000 hectares and are being left idle or underutilised by their owners. So far, more than 2 million hectares have been redistributed to landless poor farmers.
Tascon added that about 50 Venezuelans, mainly cattle farmers and businesspeople, remain kidnapped by these paramilitaries. The majority were seized in Tachira state and taken to Colombian territory.
Iris Varela, also a National Assembly deputy from Tachira, claimed the state is suffering a wave of paramilitary assassinations. Among the victims are city as well as country dwellers. In the previous week in the town of Urena, two people who had close links with the Chavista mayor and were involved in the development of social programs in that area were murdered. The social programs are a key component of the Bolivarian revolution being led by Chavez, which is redistributing the nation's wealth to benefit the poor majority.
In late April, eight people were shot dead in a house after they were involved in attempts to counter the influence of paramilitaries in the area. Workers, bus and truck drivers and other small businesspeople have been forced to pay protection money — called the "vaccine" — to the paramilitary gangs.
Varela made her accusations in the National Assembly on May 3, calling on the government to take action over this serious threat. There has also been paramilitary activity in the states of Merida, Barinas, Zulia and Apure.
On May 5, a meeting of national and state government authorities was held in the Tachira capital San Christobel, involving police, the attorney-general and the state governor, to discuss a plan of action on the crisis. They urged the president to declare an exceptional situation in the state of Tachira, which they blamed on intervention generated by Plan Colombia — the US-backed military offensive against insurgent guerrilla forces in that country, under the guise of fighting drug barons.
Tascon added that the national and regional governments must take convincing measures to stop the paramilitaries before they become a real power and take control of territory through their campaign of fear and terror, reported Diario Vea. He said that the paramilitary gangs sought to penetrate all levels of society, which is the general strategy sponsored by Plan Colombia, to try to destroy the Bolivarian revolution.
On May 7, according to a report in the May 8 Diario Vea, Varela said: "I have sufficient proof to make the accusation that in Tachira there are paramilitaries who have entered Venezuela under the protection of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees." Varela explained that groups of Colombian paramilitaries have threatened legal refugees and forced them to act as agents for the paramilitaries in order to destabilise Venezuela.
In addition, a special commission of the National Assembly against assassinations, attacks and disappearances of peasants, indigenous people and fishers has been investigating the deaths of various citizens in the state of Barinas. Deputy Braulio Jose Alvarez said that "There exist groups and forces that are dedicated to conspiracy, paramilitarism and assassination. Many of them take the express orders of the big landowners", the May 8 daily Ultimas Noticias reported.
Alvarez indicated that the zones most vulnerable to infiltration by paramilitary rebel groups are south of Lake Maracaibo — Tachira, Barinas, Apure and Portuguesa. He called on the police to urgently pursue investigation of these crimes, and urged small and medium producers not to be frightened of the paramilitary gangsters, and to refuse to pay the "vaccine".
From Green Left Weekly, May 24, 2006.
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