Venezuela: Campesino Movements Demand Justice for Assassinated Activist

Lisbon, Portugal, September 25, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan rural organizations have demanded action from authorities following the assassination of a grassroots leader.

Iraidez Andrade was reportedly killed by hitmen on Saturday, September 21, in Las Mercedes landstead in Barinas state. According to local sources, he was dragged out of his home by armed men wearing masks on Friday night and his body was found the following morning close by.

The 43-year-old Andrade was one of the leading spokespeople in the grassroots effort to rescue Las Mercedes and grant campesino families land to produce. He was a member of the Sueños de Chávez Communal Council and had taken part in a land resolution negotiating table promoted by Venezuela’s Agriculture Ministry days before his killing.

Representatives from several campesino organizations attended Andrade’s funeral on Monday and echoed a call for justice and an end to impunity in cases of violence against countryside activists. They pointed the finger at members of the Riera Zubillaga family, a powerful landowning clan from Lara state, who claim ownership of the plot.

María Alejandra Tovar, coordinator of Las Mercedes Bolivariana Campesino Council, which brings together 16 grassroots groups organized around the land struggle, told Venezuelanalysis that an investigation into Andrade’s assassination is underway but that more action is needed.

“There have been recurring efforts over the years to silence and terrorize campesino leaders,” she said. “We have denounced these situations and the threats from irregular groups in this area.” The local organizer praised Andrade for his tireless work in favor of local communities.

Tovar added that she, Andrade and other activists had been constantly threatened on behalf of the Riera Zubillaga family and that judicial protection orders had been limited in scope, either with short time frames or not covering all spokespeople.

She stated that 900 families are currently living in the landstead, mostly dedicated to cattle rearing. According to Tovar, the campesinos produce 16 thousand daily liters of milk while also growing pigs and poultry. Corn, rice, plantains and sugar cane are some of the main crops produced in the territory.

The grassroots organizer explained that rescue efforts in Las Mercedes date back to 2002, but that a key moment was a 2014 inspection from the Venezuelan Land Institute (INTI) that declared the land idle. In 2016, dozens of families began occupying the plot located in the Pedraza municipality of Barinas state. The INTI initially granted them permission to stay in an area of 5,000 hectares, roughly a third of Las Mercedes.

In subsequent years, the campesino families faced several violent eviction efforts, including the poisoning of water wells and the destruction of houses and crops. However, they returned and expressed determination to continue producing food. Tovar likewise denounced the killing of two campesinos in 2018.

The Las Mercedes struggle was a flagship issue in the 2018 “Admirable March” that saw hundreds walk from the countryside to the capital Caracas to demand government support for campesinos. According to Venezuelanalysis sources, more than 90 percent of the land disputes from the march have been settled, at least partially, in favor of small-scale producers. However, cases like Las Mercedes remain in limbo, with organizers denouncing behind-the-scenes influence wielded by landowning interests.

Tovar stressed that the grassroots groups have explored all institutional paths toward solving the conflict and are open to negotiating directly with the presumed owners if they are able to produce proprietary evidence.

Andrade’s assassination saw a number of campesino collectives, including the Small Farmers Movement, issued a joint statement urging the Maduro government to address the targeted killings of grassroots leaders.

The declaration expressed solidarity with Andrade’s family, as well as all the other families in Las Mercedes. It went on to demand justice and reparations for the victims of targeted assassinations and the reactivation of workgroups dedicated to land, criminalization and violence against campesinos. These initiatives were launched in 2018 under the coordination of the Venezuelan Vice Presidency but were later abandoned.

Carlos Bolívar, a leading figure in the high-profile struggle for Los Tramojos land plot in Guárico state, was another recent victim of countryside violence against campesinos.

Rural organizations have documented 350 assassinations ordered by landowners since the approval of the Land Law in 2001. The legislation promoted by former President Hugo Chávez allows campesino families and collectives to take over idle land in large estates.