The Venezuela chapter of the Observatory for the Defense of Life ODEVIDA (An alliance between Venezuelan organization Provea, Colombian organization Entre Pares, and other regional organizations) denounced with great concern the murder of the indigenous leader, environmentalist, and coordinator of the Uwottujja Territorial Guardians of the Autana municipality, VIRGILIO TRUJILLO ARANA. According to information provided by the Regional Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of Amazonas (ORPIA), Trujillo was assassinated on Thursday, June 30, 2022, in Puerto Ayacucho, capital of Amazonas state, Venezuela.

As a member of the Piaroas Unidos del Sipapo Indigenous Organization (OIPUS), VIRGILIO TRUJILLO ARANA took part in the activities of the Territorial Indigenous Guard of his community, fighting to keep his territory free from mineral extraction and the presence of irregular forces of the Colombian guerrillas that operate in the area.

This irregular situation was denounced by ODEVIDA in December 2021 in the “Report on environment and territory in Venezuela: The consequences of extractivism in Venezuela: ecocide and violence”, where it mentioned that “ the Indigenous Organization Piaroas Unidos del Sipapo (Oipus) notified the Public Ministry and the Ombudsman of the situation in June 2013, but the institutions failed to take action. Later, in December, they went to the Attorney General’s Office and the National Assembly to reiterate their allegations about the presence of illegal miners, mining transnationals, and FARC guerrillas in Venezuelan territory, without being able to have a right to speak before the legislative body.”

ODEVIDA has registered 32 indigenous and environmental leaders assassinated between 2013 and 2021, 21 of them assassinated by miners or members of Colombian guerrilla organizations, and 11 by members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB). The irregular forces or non-state actors responsible for the violence affecting indigenous communities in Bolívar and Amazonas states are criminal gangs known as “unions” or “pranatos” (organized criminal structures); illegal Brazilian garimpeiros (illegal artisanal miners), and members of the Colombian guerrillas, including the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (dissident factions).

The murder of VIRGILIO TRUJILLO ARANA reaffirms the findings of the international organization Mongabay Latam about the defenselessness of environmental defenders in Venezuela. In order to overcome this reality that weakens the work of defending rights, in this case, the right to a healthy environment and to the use and enjoyment of the territory, ODEVIDA ratifies the need for the Venezuelan State to implement the following measures:

  • Guarantee a prompt and effective investigation and reparation to sanction those responsible for this murder that shocks the family of the victim and the indigenous communities affected by violence from non-state actors that operate in their ancestral territories.
  • Guarantee compliance with Decree 269 of 1989 establishing the prohibition of all mining activities in the state of Amazonas
  • Expedite the signing and ratification by the National Executive branch and the National Assembly of the “Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean” (Escazú Agreement ).

Caracas, July 01, 2022.

Translated by José Rafael Medina