One dead, multiple injured after Venezuelan national guard opens fire on opposition supporters
SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela – Venezuelan soldiers opened fire on a group of civilians attempting to keep open a segment of the southern border with Brazil for deliveries of humanitarian aid, leading to multiple injuries and the first fatality of a massive opposition operation meant to deliver international relief into this devastated South American country, according to an eye-witnesses and community leaders.
At 6:30 a.m. on Friday, a military convoy approached a checkpoint set up by an indigenous community in the southern village of Kumarakapai, that rests on the main artery linking Venezuela to Brazil. When the volunteers sought to block the military vehicles by standing in front of them, soldiers began firing assault rifles, wounding at least 12 people, four of them seriously. One woman, Zorayda Rodriguez, 42, was killed.
“I ask the armed forces , is it constitutional for them to fire against unarmed indigenous people?” said Jorge Perez, a local councilman in Gran Sabana, the district where the town is located who said he was present when the soldiers opened fire. “Is it constitutional to kill indigenous people?”
At least 30 neighbors took to the streets following the shootings, kidnapping three soldiers, according to Carmen Elena Silva, 48, who had joined in the roadblock, and George Bello, a spokesperson for the indigenous community.
“The majority of the people support the entrance of humanitarian aid, and we want to keep our border open,” Silva said. “This is help, not war…Every day more children die.”
A spokesmen for Venezuela’s Communications Ministry said it could not yet comment on the incident.
The activists belonged to the Pemones indigenous tribe that has joined the opposition effort to haul in aid donated by the United States and other countries from bordering nations on Saturday. The aid is coming from nations – including the United States – that have demanded Maduro step down, and his government has ordered a full blockade the aid, and dispatched the military to reinforce Venezuela’s borders.
The incident appeared to be the most violent confrontation yet in a still-unfolding operation that has seen thousands of volunteers seeking to reach bordering nations to haul in the aid. Opposition leaders feared more clashes on Saturday, when volunteers will seek to bring aid over the border.
SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela – Venezuelan soldiers opened fire on a group of civilians attempting to keep open a segment of the southern border with Brazil for deliveries of humanitarian aid, leading to multiple injuries and the first fatality of a massive opposition operation meant to deliver international relief into this devastated South American country, according to an eye-witnesses and community leaders.
At 6:30 a.m. on Friday, a military convoy approached a checkpoint set up by an indigenous community in the southern village of Kumarakapai, that rests on the main artery linking Venezuela to Brazil. When the volunteers sought to block the military vehicles by standing in front of them, soldiers began firing assault rifles, wounding at least 12 people, four of them seriously. One woman, Zorayda Rodriguez, 42, was killed.
“I ask the armed forces , is it constitutional for them to fire against unarmed indigenous people?” said Jorge Perez, a local councilman in Gran Sabana, the district where the town is located who said he was present when the soldiers opened fire. “Is it constitutional to kill indigenous people?”
At least 30 neighbors took to the streets following the shootings, kidnapping three soldiers, according to Carmen Elena Silva, 48, who had joined in the roadblock, and George Bello, a spokesperson for the indigenous community.
“The majority of the people support the entrance of humanitarian aid, and we want to keep our border open,” Silva said. “This is help, not war…Every day more children die.”
A spokesmen for Venezuela’s Communications Ministry said it could not yet comment on the incident.
The activists belonged to the Pemones indigenous tribe that has joined the opposition effort to haul in aid donated by the United States and other countries from bordering nations on Saturday. The aid is coming from nations – including the United States – that have demanded Maduro step down, and his government has ordered a full blockade the aid, and dispatched the military to reinforce Venezuela’s borders.
The incident appeared to be the most violent confrontation yet in a still-unfolding operation that has seen thousands of volunteers seeking to reach bordering nations to haul in the aid. Opposition leaders feared more clashes on Saturday, when volunteers will seek to bring aid over the border.
