Venezuela: Church urges protection for Yanomami

(Vatican Radio ) The Apostolic Vicar of Puerto Ayacucho, Msgr. José Angel Divassón Cilveti, is appealing to Venezuelan authorities for the truth regarding the massacre of a remote tribe of Yanomami, one the last remaining indigenous peoples of the Amazon forests. Listen: 00:01:50:42

News of the massacre of 80 ethnic Yanomami in the Amazon rainforest near the border with Brazil, caused the reaction of the Venezuelan government, which dispatched the Minister of Indigenous Peoples to the area located in the Upper Orinoco. On his return he said they had found no evidence of the massacre.


Reacting to the Minister’s claims located in the bishop points out that "it is not enough to fly over the area” because it is covered by dense vegetation.

Witnesses of the aftermath described finding ‘burnt bodies and bones’. Initial reports suggest up to 80 people were killed, but these numbers are impossible to confirm. Only three survivors have been found. The attack is believed to have happened in July,

In a note sent to Fides news agency, Bishop Divassón also emphasizes that the remote Yanomami community is increasingly at risk from miners who are crossing to Venezuela from Brazil, and forcing them off their land to mine the Orinoco river basin, with devastating consequences: water contamination, violence, and disease.

In fact, he concludes, many Yanomami have died because of tuberculosis. The has urged Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez to ‘conduct a thorough investigation to conclusively determine what happened.’