Bolívar currently remains in custody. After participating in the barricade carried out by Sidor workers on Avenida de los Trabajadores, he has been constantly harassed by different State security forces that, he assures, seek to deprive him of his liberty.
Text: Francesca Diaz / Caroní Mail
The leadership that the worker of the Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor) Ángel Bolívar has gained before his colleagues has earned him persecution, harassment and intimidation by the Venezuelan State. Today the worker claims that “if you want to fire me, do it, but don’t mess with my family.”
Bolívar currently remains in custody. After participating in the barricade carried out by Sidorists on Avenida de los Trabajadores, he has been constantly harassed by officials from different state security forces who, he assures, seek to deprive him of his freedom for being one of the leaders in the state-owned steel company.
“They took on the task of turning criminals into people who raise their voices in defense of rights established in the Organic Labor Law. We can no longer allow this. Today they came to my house again. My wife and my children live in fear that they will get there as if there were drugs in the house, stolen objects… They are capable of even planting false evidence to damage the image of those of us who raised our voices in the face of so much outrage,” Bolívar denounced.
*Read also: Sidor workers will form a working group with the ruling party without Sutiss
The Sidorist has a history of 24 years of service in the company, he has dedicated more than two decades to the state company that today, in the midst of the economic crisis, reduced him to the status of “not required” and makes him continue receiving a salary of only 30% of what corresponds to it.
His last position was as head of the sector in the Department of Electric Power, from which he was deactivated due to the pandemic in August 2020.
Since 2021, he has been demanding the reinstatement of non-required workers to the company, for which he has been harassed and persecuted.
During the five days that the protest blocked the highway that connects Ciudad Bolívar with Puerto Ordaz, state officials visited the employee’s residence with the intention of arresting him.
This January 19, the situation was repeated, despite the fact that the demonstration had already been dissipated. While the Governor’s Office sends press releases and photographs at dialogue tables with Sidorists, claiming to seek dialogue, the persecution and intimidation against the protest leaders continues.
The worker declared for Correo del Caroní that an official went to his residence at 7:00 p.m. to deliver a summons from the Prosecutor’s Office.
“I have almost three years without knowing what it is like to step inside Sidor, I cannot articulate protests as they intend to point out. I showed up at the protest to support my fellow active members. That day my wife called me worried to tell me that some soldiers and a man from the Prosecutor’s Office came to the house with long weapons to give me a document. That generated alarm and nervousness in my house. We are uneasy and I am safe because we know that we are dealing with unscrupulous people,” denounced the Sidorist.
Within the framework of this protest, the State negotiated, just like hostages, the freedom of 18 workers that it imprisoned for joining the demand for better wages.
It is this fate that Ángel Bolívar fears, since those arrested remained deprived of their liberty for several days and, despite being released, they will be under a presentation regime. In relation to the issue, international instances have already confirmed the harassment against union leaders in the country.
*Read also: Sidor workers will form a working group with the ruling party without Sutiss
– Why do you think that the company, making use of the State security forces, maintains this persecution against you?
– I am a simple prevention delegate. It is because simply and simply we do not remain silent in the face of so much outrage. That’s why they lash out at us. Beyond that, to the good, I say good; to the bad, I say bad. I don’t shut up in the face of outrages. That is what bothers them. How not to claim now? If they have taken everything from us. How is it normal to be persecuted for claiming our rights, to the point of taking us behind bars as criminals?
Union leaders who participated in the demonstration, including César Soto, leader of Unidad en la Coincidencia; César Marcano, a worker at Ferrominera Orinoco; and José Basanta, union leader of CVG Bauxilum, have denounced the same situation of harassment and harassment in their personal residences due to his participation in the protests.
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