SURVIVAL
Eñepa Indians in the Venezuelan Amazon. The Eñepa and other tribes are demanding the removal of armed gangs from their land. PHOTO/© Jacques Jangoux/Survival
Venezuelan Indians have revealed their alarm at the presence of illegal miners and armed gangs on their land, some claiming to be members of Colombia’s guerrilla army the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).
Tribes across the country’s southern rainforest are calling for the urgent removal of the invaders, who are threatening and harassing the Indians and destroying their forest home.
The Eñepa and Hoti Indians who live in the Venezuelan Amazon, hundreds of kilometers from the Colombian border, stated in a recent declaration, “When we first saw the guerrillas on our land… we felt invaded, worried and scared to go to the hills and go about our lives.
“This ancestral land is our home, our life and our culture. We love it, we have always looked after it, and we are ready to defend it with our lives.”
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