Author: La Tabla/Data Journalism Platform
For more than three years, there has been an institutional effort to dispossess a group of peasant families who have been occupying and cultivating an unproductive rural plot in Pedraza municipality, Barinas state, for the past five years. This offensive, driven by timber businessman Ramón Homero González, has simultaneously involved judicial, administrative, and criminal investigation instances to evict the farmers and facilitate private exploitation of valuable forest resources.
🌱 From Idle Land to Productive Core
The disputed land—owned by the Nation according to the Land Law and Decree 706—remained unproductive for years until it was reclaimed by 22 organized peasant families under the “Chávez en El Graciero” Peasant Council. Since then, they have developed an agro-food production scheme based on the conuco, with six-hectare plots per family, growing cassava, corn, and other essential crops.
In 2021, a technical inspection by the National Land Institute (INTi) confirmed the idle nature of the land and recommended its agricultural recovery. However, that report disappeared from INTi’s files, while the land allocation request made by the farmers remains unanswered.
🪓 Timber Interests Behind the Conflict
Ramón Homero González, inheritor of a woman who violently expelled farmers from the area, has failed to demonstrate productive activity or valid ownership documents. His openly declared intention is the exploitation of native forest species, and to do so, he has secured judicial protection measures as a “forest producer,” despite there being only five ornamental teak plants on the property.
González has activated three institutional routes to consolidate his control over the land:
– Administrative: with the support of INTi’s regional office and national management.
– Agrarian Judicial: through the Second Agrarian Court of Barinas.
– Criminal: with unfounded complaints to the GNB and the Public Ministry.
⚖️ The 60th Agrarian Prosecutor’s Office as a Tool for Criminalization
The latest action involves the 60th National Prosecutor’s Office with agrarian jurisdiction, established in 2021 by the Attorney General to protect the rights of farmers. However, in practice, its operations have favored large landowners at the expense of small producers.
In October 2025, provisional prosecutor Pedro Eduardo Peres Hera summoned four farmers for charges: Ramón Alirio Gómez (elected communal judge in December 2024), Jesús Enrique González Urbina, Giovanni Filimon Carrizalez Rondón, and Aníbal José Altuna Flores. The case is based on a complaint made by González in March 2022, which remained inactive for over three years.
🚨 The Case of Rubén Delgado and the Penal Offensive
In February 2024, another complaint of alleged violent crimes triggered a manipulated investigation by GNB’s 331 Detachment. Rubén Delgado, spokesperson for the Peasant Council, was arrested without a judicial order at his home. Two other colleagues (Miguel Angel Santamaría and Nelson Lepesquer) were detained when they went to the military headquarters to inquire about his situation. Since then, all three have remained imprisoned.
The process has been marked by:
– Torture and cruel treatment by Captain Joyner Chaustre.
– Forging of procedural documents.
– Inclusion of new crimes and unsupported witnesses.
– Institutional protection for those responsible for the tortures.
🧮 The Institutional Dispossession Pattern
The offensive against the peasants in the Canaguá case is not an isolated event. It reflects a pattern of institutional dispossession that combines:
– Criminalization of peasant production.
– Judicialization of rural poverty.
– Covert privatization of national lands.
– Protection of timber interests through fraudulent legal figures.
The actions of the 60th Prosecutor’s Office, far from protecting farmers’ rights, have served as a tool to solidify dispossession. The Public Defender’s Office, instead of defending the victims, has acted as a complicit mediator for the businessman.
✊🏽 For Life, Land, and Truth
From La Tabla, we denounce this dispossession operation and demand:
– Full freedom for detained farmers.
– Land titling for families who produce.
– Nullification of fraudulent processes.
– Punishment for officials involved in tortures and cover-up.
The fight for land is also a fight for truth. We will continue to document each step of this institutional offensive that seeks to erase the efforts of those who sow life amid abandonment and looting.