Venezuela: Why Was the Pemon Massacre Ignored by Mainstream Media Outlets?
The international mainstream media is generally eager to report on stories involving indigenous populations who are being discriminated against or abused by the powerful: governments, multinational corporations, wealthy landowners, farmers, oil pipelines. The Standing Rock protests in North Dakota were a classic example of this.
In the remote Amazonian jungles of southeastern Venezuela, and northern Brazil, the Pemon remain one of the poorest tribes on the South American continent.
For anyone who thinks that the twenty year political project of Chavismo served to further the interests of the poor and weak, the Pemon represent a striking counter-example. They, along with several other indigenous tribes mainly in remote eastern Venezuela, have suffered greatly during the six disastrous years of Maduro’s rule.
Despite the proclamations of an army of pro-Maduro propagandists who deemed the humanitarian aid to be merely a pretext for military invasion, the Pemon enthusiastically welcomed the efforts of the United States, Colombia, and Brazil, in conjunction with British billionaire Richard Branson, to bring supplies of much-needed food and medicine into Venezuelan territory.
When members of the Pemon tribe observed a Venezuelan military convoy speeding towards the Brazilian-Venezuelan border, with the intent of preventing the entrance of humanitarian aid, they decided to take matters into their own hands. In the southeastern Venezuelan village of Kumaracupay, 40 miles from the border, they attempted to block Highway 10, and prevent the arrival of the soldiers.
They were met with live ammunition from the Venezuelan military.
The first victim was identified as Zoraida Rodríguez, 40, who died of a gunshot wound. A second as-of-yet unidentified victim died later at a local hospital.
A dozen wounded were also taken to the hospital. One man, Alberto Delgado, spoke forcefully about why he came to protest against the Venezuelan military, and how the Chavista regime has impacted his life, and that of his family:
“I did this for my grandfather, who has been sick in bed for six years; I did this for my uncle Jorge William, who is in a wheelchair; I’m doing this for my uncle, Cipriano López, who is doing dialysis every week and we have to spend money…I was shot in both legs and I hope that all Venezuelans see this. The only person responsible is named Maduro and he has to leave now. We’re going to get this criminal out.”
For those Democrats in Congress who refuse to label Maduro a dictator, perhaps they should speak with Alberto Delgado and the members of his tribe.
Maduro and his disastrous policies have brought ruin and misery to Venezuela’s largely urban population, but they have brought utter devastation to Venezuela’s indigenous people, who are now dying for lack of food and medicine.
https://panampost.com/david-unsworth/2019/03/01/venezuela-why-was-the-pemon-massacre-ignored-by-mainstream-media-outlets/
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For some odd reason the plight of these indigenous people has hardly gotten a peep here. I guess they're less worthy than other indigenous people. That's the only logical explanation.