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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element" dir="ltr"> <font
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href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14607">https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14607</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Venezuela: Six Chavista Militants
Killed in Fresh Rural Violence</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By Ricardo Vaz - July 30,
2019<br>
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<p>Caracas, July 30, 2018 (<a
href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/">venezuelanalysis.com</a>)
- Six activists from the grassroots Revolutionary
Bolivar and Zamora Current (<a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14079">CRBZ</a>)
were assassinated in Barinas State on Saturday.</p>
<p>The victims, including one pregnant woman, were part
of the so-called Hugo Chavez Popular Defense Brigades
organized by the CRBZ in Barinas, Tachira, and other
states regularly plagued by landowner violence against
campesinos.</p>
<p>No information is yet known about the assailants,
with the CRBZ claiming in a <a
href="http://www.crbz.org/masacre-en-barinas-contra-militantes-revolucionarios-comunicado-de-la-corriente/">statement</a>
that they had “military training.”</p>
<p>“We want to denounce to the country and the world the
murder of six comrades, presumably by mercenaries paid
by right-wing landowners in the region,” the group
declared, before adding that the six would remain
present “in every battle and in every day of
struggle.”</p>
<p>The incident reportedly took place on Saturday
morning as the Chavista militants were repairing a
motorbike in the Ticoporo Reserve, Barinas State.</p>
<p>The killings sparked immediate outrage and shows of
solidarity from Venezuelan and international activists
alike, with participants in the <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14606">Sao
Paulo Forum</a> demanding justice.</p>
<p>“On behalf of the Patria Grande movement [in
Argentina] I want to express my solidarity and
repudiate this action of landowners who want to
subjugate campesinos,” said Silvana Broggi during the
meeting currently taking place in Caracas.</p>
<p>Chavista popular movements likewise voiced their
solidarity and cry for justice in a Twitter storm,
with the hashtag “no more Chavista killings”
(#NoMásChavistasAsesinados) becoming the top trend in
Venezuela on Monday evening.</p>
<p>For his part, National Constituent Assembly President
Diosdado Cabello said that paramilitary violence in
the countryside was not something new and demanded an
investigation into the assassinations.</p>
<p>“We strongly condemn this violence and demand a
thorough investigation to find the culprits,” the
Chavista leader said on Sunday, vowing that the crimes
would not go unpunished. The Attorney General’s Office
has yet to issue a public statement, though the CICPC
investigative police has appeared on scene to gather
evidence.</p>
<p>The Venezuelan countryside has seen a recent increase
in <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14158">targeted
killings</a> of campesinos in the context of
escalating disputes over land rights. Landowner
violence was one of the issues driving the <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/13974">Admirable
Campesino March</a> in July 2018 which saw dozens of
campesinos march over 400 kilometers on foot to demand
a meeting with President Maduro in order to change the
state’s rural policies. A high-profile televised <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13975">meeting</a>
took place, and Maduro ordered the creation of
commissions to resolve land disputes and end impunity
for rural violence.</p>
<p>However, campesinos have repeatedly denounced that <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14104">little</a>
to no progress has been made, with several new
campesino murders taking place since then. The
continued <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14598">setbacks</a>
have led campesino activists to return to Caracas and
set up a <a
href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14581">vigil</a>
at the Land Institute to demand answers from
authorities.</p>
<p>According to campesino groups, since the inauguration
of Venezuela’s revolutionary land reform law in 2001,
over 300 small farmers have been murdered by hired
guns in the employ of large landowners. While in some
cases the assassins have been convicted of their
crimes, impunity continues with respect to the role of
landed elites financing the killings.</p>
<p><em>Edited by Lucas Koerner from Caracas. </em></p>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
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