10,799 small-scale and artesanal miners block highway demanding immediate answers from Mibam's Rofolfo Sanz

VHeadline Venezuela News reports: Gold miners in La Paragua in the Raul Leoni municipality of southeastern Bolivar State are calling on Basic Industries & Mining (Mibam) Minister Rodolfo Sanz to step up to the plate and deliver on promises he has made following the conversaion of mining claims two years ago. A total of 10,799 small-scale and artesanal miners who are still waiting for compensation decided to block access to the town on Thursday morning demanding immediate answers to their demands.

One of the protestors, Alfredo Villanueva -- quoted in the Caracas broadsheet El Universal -- said the demonstrators were not looking for confrontation or to burn tires but "we are simply tired of being screwed around by the authorities, it's as if they want to run rings around us rather than to provide solutions."

Just a couple of weeks ago officials from Mibam had promised to make payments of Bs.F 10,000 (Euros 2,958) to each miner on original compansation claims of between Bs.F 15-20,000 (Euros 4,437-5,916) but Villanueva says the officials have simply disappeared into thing air along with the promises.

Nevertheless, the protestors say they have confidence that Minister Rodolfo Sanz will come to the rescue since "he has been the only minister to face the miners" but yesterday they accused him of deception since on May 14, he had asked for an additional 20 days to meet the miners' demands ... "but we are still waiting!"

Sanz had already had the results of a CVG-Mibam review of the status of old age pensions and re-training programs for 300 miners and their families as part of the conversion ... "but on Thursday it was two years since the government ordered the conversion and we have not seen any results. Everything has been a lie!"

More than 800 miners signed a document which was handed over to National Assembly (AN) deputies Oscar Figuera and Pastora Medina who undertook to deliver it personally to President Hugo Chavez ... but they have had no further news of it since then. "In a few days time we will be holding a regional mining assembly and our intention is to gather all the miners in Bolivar State to decide what will come of our protest ... until then the La Paragua highway will remain closed!"

VHeadline Venezuela News
vheadline@gmail.com

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