"Luis Shatiwe, a leader of the Yanomami group, told a Venezuelan newspaper that the survivors were hunters who had been out of the village at the time of the alleged attack.

"The hunters, he added, heard a helicopter and gunfire and said a communal hut in the village was destroyed by fire."

So the upshot of all this new information is that the entire story, including the helicopter attack, may very well have been a complete fabrication. It appears that the alleged massacre was rumored to the Yanomami leadership and that Luis Shatiwe and others sought help to verify whether or not the story was true. The only remaining question, admittedly somewhat rhetorical, is why the BBC and Reuters spread the story around the world, based an undocumented report by Survival International NGO who had not even attempted to visit the Yanomami regarding the report and have not given a source for their story. We stand by our original view that this alleged massacre is another attempt to discredit the Venezuelan government as we approach the October 7 presidential elections. - LMB

In the lead-up to the Venezuelan 2012 presidential elections, things most rare have been happening across the country. The U.S. Marine caught by authorities entering the country illegally from Colombia one month ago with "geographical coordinates" in his notebook; the Yare Prison riot earlier this month where drugs and arms were secretly smuggled into rival gangs; the US Embassy in Caracas predicting an "extraordinary event" which will reduce candidate incumbent President Chavez' lead of 15 percent over his rival, Capriles Radonski; the horrific attack on the Amuay refinery, the largest in the world, last Saturday morning; increasing protests against the government, earlier at Sidor Steel plant in the Bolivar State (and today in Valencia) all suggesting "internal, civil unrest" and now this attack on the Yanomami indigenous people in Venezuela near the Brazilian border. In the article below, the BBC reported that they were killed by "illegal gold miners." The BBC reports the attack took place a month ago but is reported now because of the remote location of the killings in the Amazon jungle. I talked to one Venezuelan about this today and he replied ...

"The BBC is just digging up anything as part of the media campaign. Why is this news coming out now? Is it even true? Who are the Yanomami complaining to? To the NGOs? To the BBC? To HRW? To our indigenous minister in Venezuela? To President Chavez? It could have happened in Brazil if it happened at all! The BBC attributes says their information comes from "campaign groups." What campaign groups? Who are they?"

The BBC states, "The Yanomami have previously complained of attacks by illegal miners." Complained to whom and when? The BBC's source for this statement is an "NGO" director who lives in England and it smacks of the corporate media propaganda on the Amuay refinery attack Saturday, blaming the Venezuelan government for negligence. Like the BBC, the news report they quote, Survival International, titles its article, Yanomami Indians ‘massacred’ by goldminers in Venezuela, flatly stating without documentation, that these people were killed by Venezuelan "goldminers":

"Goldminers in Venezuela have carried out a ‘massacre’ of isolated Yanomami Indians, according to reports received by Survival International. The attack is believed to have happened in July, but news is only just emerging ... Due to the community’s remote location, it took the Indians who discovered the bodies days to walk to the nearest settlement to report the tragedy."

However, in a Reuters' report, Venezuela investigates alleged massacre in Amazon tribal village, Luis Shatiwe, a Yanomami leader says the people were killed by gunfire from a helicopter:

"Venezuela's public prosecutor on Wednesday (local time) said it is investigating an alleged massacre of indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest, after a tribal group told the government that a village of 80 natives was attacked in July from a helicopter.

"In a statement, the government said it had received word of the alleged attack by a group representing the Yanomami tribe, an indigenous people native to southern Venezuela.

"A spokeswoman at the public prosecutor's office said the government could not yet confirm the attack nor how many people may have been killed.

"Fellow Yanomami and an international native rights group, however, said only three people, from the village of 80, are known to be alive.

"Luis Shatiwe, a leader of the Yanomami group, told a Venezuelan newspaper that the survivors were hunters who had been out of the village at the time of the alleged attack.

"The hunters, he added, heard a helicopter and gunfire and said a communal hut in the village was destroyed by fire.

"Fellow Yanomami and an international native rights group, however, said only three people, from the village of 80, are known to be alive.

"Survival International, a London-based organization that seeks to protect native peoples, said in a statement that another Yanomami told the group that tribespeople had found bones and charred bodies in the village.

"The group and the government both said that word of the alleged massacre is just emerging because of the remote location of the village, a five-hour helicopter flight, or a five-day walk, from Puerto Ayacucho, the capital city of the southern state of Amazonas.

"Like other Amazon tribes, the Yanomami in recent decades have struggled with efforts by outsiders to tap jungle resources or otherwise develop the rainforest.

"Often, the conflicting interests result in violence, though much of it goes unreported because of the scale and remoteness of most of the Amazon.

"In 1993, 16 Yanomami villagers were killed in Brazil during an attack by miners. Brazil eventually convicted several of the assailants."

I haven't visited the Yanomami people, partly because I don't want to intrude, but I have visited other indigenous tribes in the Venezuelan Amazon. They and the Yanomami are probably the most honored and protected of any indigenous people in the world by a state government. The Venezuelan government is in constant contact with the indigenous people here and has positive relations with them. In fact, one of President Chavez' political strongholds is in the Amazonas and Bolivar states in the heart of the Amazon.

When I visited a "remote" indigenous tribe in the Amazon in 2010, I interviewed a young indigenous doctor, living with his wife and children in their traditional thatched roof, ground floor home not far from St. Elena. He told me he was being paid for his work by the Venezuelan government to locate and share the medicinal herbs his ancestors have used from antiquity. He told me that the medicines his tribe uses and new ones that they are discovering are being studied by Venezuelan scientists in the new Venezuelan pharmaceutical company in Caracas.

The government has also created "a national network of low price pharmacies across the country in an attempt to combat the effect of inflation on the price of medicine for Venezuelan citizens." I purchase medicine from one of these Bolivarian pharmacies, located within a 10 minute drive from my home. (I digress). The point is that President Chavez meets regularly with indigenous tribes, hosts them in Caracas and enjoys a close and productive relationship with them.

So the most reliable source we have for details of the killings of Yanomami people comes from a Yanomami leader who told Reuters that these people were killed by gunfire from a helicopter, but the BBC leaves this detail out of their report, only attributing the attack to "illegal gold miners." Are "illegal gold miners" killing indigenous people from a helicopter gunship? Ok, it's possible that a mining company sent their helicopter out to kill up to 80 people in the jungle, but ...

Perhaps the next imperialist media report will suggest that the helicopter was a Venezuela military aircraft. We were sure the next salvo in this stepped up attempt to destabilize Venezuela was coming but could only guess where and when. In case there is any confusion, yes, we are suggesting that the CIA/Southcom plan for Venezuela is unfolding now. If they are "true to form," HRW will soon begin it's condemnation of the government for human rights violations as it has in the past; this time, relative to these indigenous folk - and the government will be blamed by the corporate media for at least not protecting these people or perhaps worse. Washington's operations to destabilize Venezuela will continue to occur and be ramped up as we approach the October 7 presidential elections. Their operations will be consistent with the CIA template in other countries - as with the Amuay explosion last Saturday, in ways that allow them to "deny responsibility," while executing their designs. Think Honduras, Paraguay, Libya ... Syria ....

- Les Blough in Venezuela

Miners' attack on Yanomami Amazon tribe 'kills dozens'
BBC
August 29, 2012

An attack by gold miners on a group of Yanomami tribespeople in Venezuela has left up to 80 people dead, according to campaign groups.

The attack is reported to have taken place last month in the remote Irotatheri community, close to the border with Brazil.

The miners allegedly set fire to a communal house, with witnesses reporting finding burnt bodies.

The Yanomami have previously complained of miners encroaching on their lands.

Due to the community's remote location, it took those who discovered the bodies days to walk to the nearest settlement to report the incident, according to campaign group Survival International.

So far three survivors have been accounted for, according to Yanomami organisations.

A statement from a network of Yanomami groups called on Venezuelan authorities to investigate the incident and to co-operate with Brazil to "control and watch the movement" of miners in the area.

Yanomami activists say that the tribe has previously been targeted with threats and violence by illegal miners.

"All Amazonian governments must stop the rampant illegal mining, logging and settlement in indigenous territories," said Stephen Corry, director of Survival International.

In recent years the soaring price of gold on world markets has driven a surge in unlicensed gold-mining in many parts of the Amazon.

Source: BBC