{"id":1151452,"date":"2019-11-24T12:11:25","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T18:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1007551"},"modified":"2019-11-24T12:11:25","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T18:11:25","slug":"criminal-band-kills-at-least-three-in-venezuelan-mining-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1151452","title":{"rendered":"Criminal band kills at least three in Venezuelan mining town"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Human rights organization Provea and opposition <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/oliviaylozano\/status\/1198236778076889089\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"MP Olivia Lozano (opens in a new tab)\">MP Olivia Lozano<\/a> denounced that at least three people were killed following the incursion of an armed group in a mining town in southern Venezuela.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"preliminary report (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.derechos.org.ve\/actualidad\/informe-preliminar-sobre-los-hechos-acaecidos-en-la-comunidad-indigena-pemon-de-ikabaru\" >preliminary report<\/a> of the incident, Provea explained that the evening of November 22, 2019, members of a gang known as \u201cthe blind\u2019s union\u201d stormed into the small town of Ikabar\u00fa in the Bol\u00edvar state and opened fire. Antonio Perera, a sergeant of the Bolivarian National Guard, Edison Ram\u00f3n Soto, an Indigenous member of the nearby Manakru community, and Jeremy Mu\u00f1oz <g class=\"gr_ gr_40 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Grammar multiReplace\" id=\"40\" data-gr-id=\"40\">were<\/g> killed.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignright\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>NGO Provea urges authorities to investigate the incident, jail the perpetrators and establish security mechanisms to avoid similar situations from happening again<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Ikabar\u00fa sits on the Pem\u00f3n traditional territory and it is a mixed community where some 2,500 Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents live. It is located in the Gran Sabana municipality where placer gold mining has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/venezuela-has-an-indigenous-mining-arc-that-is-destroying-national-parks-expert\/?preview_id=996601&amp;preview_nonce=faa5012bb5&amp;preview=true&amp;_thumbnail_id=996599\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"traditionally carried out (opens in a new tab)\">traditionally carried out<\/a> by the Pem\u00f3n First Nation. In recent years, however, Indigenous miners have been displaced by illegal miners running criminal organizations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to highlight that the State is tolerating these actions. According to a number of testimonies, a week before this weekend\u2019s incident took place, the community had been alerted that armed groups may be coming into town, something the Bolivarian National Guard knew about and yet they didn\u2019t go and fulfill their duties of surveillance and protection,\u201d Provea\u2019s report reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to the NGO, incidents like the one that happened on Saturday in Ikabar\u00fa are common in Venezuela\u2019s mining towns. In those areas, criminal groups <g class=\"gr_ gr_5 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_disable_anim_appear Grammar multiReplace\" id=\"5\" data-gr-id=\"5\">known<\/g> as \u201cunions\u201d use violent tactics to take control of entire communities and of their mineral resources. \u201cThen, they start <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"mining illegally (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/venezuelan-ngo-says-illegal-mining-runs-rampant-protected-indigenous-land\/\" >mining illegally<\/a> in collusion with the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Based on its own research, Provea believes that the approval and expansion of the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/venezuelas-mining-arch-spotlight\/\">Orinoco Mining Arc<\/a> have prompted the creation of parallel structures of population control that function with the support of the Nicol\u00e1s Maduro government. These structures -the NGO states- have the freedom to employ violence to seize and destroy Indigenous land, force the displacement of entire communities and promote the loss of traditional practices.<\/p>\n<p>The Mining Arc is a 111,843-square-kilometre concession area (12.2% of Venezuela\u2019s landmass) for mining primarily gold but also diamonds, iron, copper, bauxite, coltan, and other minerals. Even though back in 2016 the government said that the idea behind its creation was to better manage resource extraction in the southern Amazonas, Delta Amacuro and Bol\u00edvar states, the area is now <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"almost entirely controlled by gangs (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/new-massacre-venezuelas-mining-arc\/\" >almost entirely controlled by gangs<\/a>, who carry out bloody battles to mark off the boundaries of their mining territories.<\/p>\n<p>Officials estimate that gold reserves in the region are about 7,000 tonnes of gold.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The southern Bol&iacute;var state is besieged by irregular groups pushing to take control of placer gold mines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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