Campesino Movements Demand Venezuelan Gov’t Step In to Protect Activists from ‘Criminalization’ Attacks
Caracas, June 23, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan campesino organizations demanded the state intervene to protect the country’s campesinos following the indictment of an activist, alleging that this is part of a pattern of “criminalization” of grassroots leaders.
Lilibeth Rangel, a spokesperson from La Fortuna estate in Zulia state, was arrested on Saturday and charged with “invasion” of privately-held lands. The Small Farmers Movement (Movimiento de Pequeños Agricultores, MPA), which groups campesino collectives from across the country, issued a statement condemning Rangel’s arrest as “the result of the criminalization of campesino struggles.”
Rangel has been a leading figure in the years-long grassroots struggle for the 350-hectare property in Western Venezuela. The case was reviewed by authorities following the 2018 “Admirable Campesino March” and the Venezuelan Land Institute (INTI) awarded title deeds to campesino families in 2021.
“We call on the Venezuelan government, the Attorney General and the Supreme Court to intervene and provide answers for the hundreds of campesinos that have been criminalized or killed in land struggles,” read the communique.
The grassroots organization added that Venezuelan authorities should fast-track legal processes to award land titles to rural collectives in order to boost food production.
MPA spokesperson Andrés Alayo told Venezuelanalysis that campesino movements will mobilize in the coming days to present cases to the Attorney General’s Office.
“We have to take action on this issue and have reached out to housing movements that are also facing a growing issue of evictions,” Alayo added, in reference to recent complaints of criminalization of tenants.
Countryside collectives have decried the levying of “invasion” charges to criminalize local leaders as well as the impunity surrounding targeted killings. Venezuelan rural movements have long denounced the influence of landowning interests on security and judicial institutions.
According to the MPA, more than 350 campesinos have been assassinated since the 2001 Land Law was approved. The landmark legislation approved by the Hugo Chávez government set up procedures for rural families to claim idle land for production. Landowner and cattle-ranching guilds have repeatedly railed against the law and demanded the eviction of “trespassers.”
In recent years, Venezuelan rural organizations have likewise urged the Maduro government to reverse policies that they allege favor agribusinesses, including fuel price hikes, crop price deregulation and privatization of state firms.
Campesinos detained in Barinas state
Rangel’s arrest came just days after an incident involving a land dispute where 28 campesinos were detained in Barinas state.
Investigative portal La Tabla reported that on June 12, a group of armed men entered La Rubiera estate in Pedraza municipality, taking 28 people away at gunpoint and later turning them over to the National Guard. The group, which included one minor, was charged with trespassing, cattle theft and incitement of hatred, and the individuals remain imprisoned.
According to local activists, the Bolívar and Zamora 2021 Campesino Council, which groups around 70 families, has been fighting to produce in the idle lands for almost five years, urging the Land Institute to grant title deeds in accordance with the Land Law.
The rural families have accused local landowner Elpidio García of being responsible for the violent operation and subverting local law enforcement. The struggle in La Rubiera has previously resulted in criminal charges against grassroots leaders and eviction attempts. Several judicial processes are currently ongoing.
Edited by José Luis Granados Ceja from Mexico City, Mexico.