TRIBUNA POPULAR – Some 25 peasant families of the Mar Azul sector, San José de Unare parish, Zaraza municipality, Guárico state, face the threat of being evicted from the lands they have occupied for several years, as a result of a legal action filed by the landowner and representative of the local bourgeoisie before the Superior Agrarian Court of the region.
The families began to struggle more than four years ago to rescue the Los Garañones estate in that locality. In 2021, with the support of the «Nicomedes Abreu» Class Conscious Peasant Current (CCCNA), they succeeded in getting the National Land Institute (INTI) to revoke the title held by the landowner and to award the families the use and occupation of the disputed land.
However, almost two years after having received the legal right to the land, and with the families already established and producing various goods of both animal and vegetable origin, a lawsuit filed by the former landowner seeks to reverse [land institute] INTI’s decision. Last December, the superior agrarian judge of the jurisdiction showed up at the Los Garañones properties, and notified the farmers that he was conducting an inspection to determine if they were indeed producing, and that a lawsuit had been filed before his court to revoke the rights INTI had granted them.
«Surprisingly and expeditiously, the Superior Agrarian Court revoked the titles to the families less than 24 hours after that inspection, without giving INTI or the peasants the opportunity to answer the lawsuit,» denounced Alí Jiménez, member of the CCCNA. The agrarian leader also informed that the dispute is currently before the Social Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
«The ‘Nicomedes Abreu’ Class Conscious Peasant Current denounces the servile attitude of the State institutions, which put themselves at the service of the interests of the landowners and the rural bourgeoisie to beat and dispossess the poor peasants of their lands» said Jimenez. «We will take the necessary actions to provide solidarity and accompaniment to the peasant families of the Los Garañones estate, and ensure that their rights are respected,» he added.
Tribuna Popular 