Virgilio Trujillo Arana, who led group protection from prison teams and unlawful mining, was gunned down in broad daylight.
A report by Mie Hoejris Dahl for London’s Guardian.
Virgilio Trujillo Arana knew that he was risking his life by defending the Amazon lands on which his Indigenous Uwottuja group had lived for hundreds of years.
“No matter occurs, occurs,” he mentioned, in a video recorded earlier than his loss of life. “[But] with out land, we disappear. That’s why we defend our territories.”
Trujillo, 38, served because the coordinator of the Indigenous Territorial Guard within the Autana municipality, within the state of Amazonas in southern Venezuela. He was additionally the founding father of Ayose Huyunami, a unit defending Indigenous lands from prison teams and unlawful mining.
On Thursday, he was shot lifeless within the metropolis of Puerto Ayacucho by a gunman who opened fireplace in broad daylight.
His homicide has left his household and the Uwottuja group fearful and infuriated. A lot of those that knew him requested to not be named out of concern for their very own security.
“It’s the primary time I’ve suffered such an important loss … [Trujillo] – could he relaxation in peace – was the one who took step one to defend our house,” mentioned a member of the family.
Trujillo’s homicide has been perceived by human rights defenders as an assault not simply on one particular person, however in opposition to a whole group and its efforts to guard a lifestyle.
On the evening of his killing, different members of the Indigenous guard obtained loss of life threats, and one member mentioned that the homicide had had a catastrophic impression on morale.
“Proper now, I’m devastated and I really feel incapable of preventing,” the guard mentioned. “We’ve seen the value for this combat, and it’s very painful. Time could also be operating out for us. As frontline defenders, we’re all being threatened.”
However Trujillo and the Indigenous guards’ mission appears extra necessary than ever.
In 2016 Venezuela’s chief, Nicolás Maduro, designated an space bigger than Portugal as a strategic growth zone for the exploitation of gold and different valuable minerals.
Amazonas state isn’t a part of this space, often known as the Orinoco Mining Arc, and mining has been prohibited there since 1989. However the prohibition has not stopped mafia gangs and Colombian insurgent teams from digging gold within the jungle – bringing violence, crime and environmental destruction with them.
Trujillo’s loss of life got here amid a wave of threats and violence in opposition to rainforest defenders throughout the Amazon. Final month, the Brazilian Indigenous knowledgeable Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips had been murdered within the Brazilian Amazon and activists have confronted intimidation and violence in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia.
In Venezuela alone, 32 Indigenous and environmental leaders have been killed over the previous eight years, based on the Odevida human rights group
“Virgilio Trujillo was not any Indigenous man. He was the defender of the Amazon,” mentioned Armando Obdola, director of the Indigenous group Kapé Kapé.
His loss of life sits on the centre of a community of interlinked crises, mentioned Tamara Taraciuk, appearing director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division.
“Virgilio’s loss of life exposes among the most tough human rights challenges dealing with Venezuela right this moment: the brutal management that armed teams train over unlawful mining within the nation; the battle of Indigenous teams, who’ve been largely forgotten by authorities; and the uselessness of Venezuela’s judiciary to analyze abuses independently and maintain these accountable accountable,” she mentioned.
After the homicide and the loss of life threats, most members of the Indigenous guard had been too afraid to indicate up at Trujillo’s funeral – and so they have all averted talking out publicly about what occurred.
“We’re coming into a scenario of passivity and concern,” says Obdola. “However this needs to be a second of awakening.”
Trujillo’s household has known as for a full investigation, however some blame Venezuelan authorities for his loss of life. Virgilio had beforehand labored alongside items of the nation’s military to guard Indigenous lands. After a string of loss of life threats, he had utilized to the inside ministry for protecting measures greater than a 12 months in the past, however his requests went unanswered.
“Sadly, the federal government system and these armed teams fashioned an alliance,” mentioned a member of the family. “As an alternative of defending the land, they engaged in corruption and smuggling.”