This Monday morning, the passage through the bridge over Lake Maracaibo was blocked by a group of Yukpas who asked to go to Caracas to sell merchandise. Some users denounced on social networks that these indigenous people wanted to collect the tolls themselves, while one of the chiefs alleges that they are not doing anything wrong
A group of Yukpa indigenous people decided to seize for the second time one of the headwaters of the General Rafael Urdaneta bridge over Lake Maracaibo, Zulia state, to once again demand that they be allowed to reach Caracas and sell their crafts.
However, in videos broadcast on social networks, they warn that the indigenous “want to collect the toll” and regret, once again, that police officers do not do something to stop them.
The Yukpas occupied both sections of the road on the bridge, which caused obstacles in both directions for motor vehicle traffic.
In interview with the whistlethe chief of the El Tukuko basin, Mariola Sánchez, denounced that what they want is to travel to the capital of the country and they deny that they are blocking roads.
“We are not blocking any road. We are peacefully, in a good way. They have put up obstacles for us, blocking the road, so that we cannot continue our course to go to Caracas so that they can buy the crafts from us, ”he said.
*Read also: Yukpas demand attention from the State: “We have not received help since Chávez died”
Update | The bridge over the lake for this time is still closed, due to the Yukpas who took the headwaters on the Maracaibo side.
However, both directions have been paralyzed since early Monday morning.
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Video recorded just minutes ago on the General Rafael Urdaneta bridge #Zulia #Venezuela. The pass is still closed. pic.twitter.com/b4WapN2Bhy
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The day before, a group of Yukpas attacked a post of the Bolivarian National Police in the Rosario de Perijá municipality, leaving at least eight officials injured; after they tried to retain the indigenous people who wanted to come to Maracaibo to sell the handicrafts they make.
The injured were identified as Kimberli González, Francisco Rodríguez, Maikel Martínez, Neptali Martínez, Diego Rivera, Emeli Paz and Evelin Palmar.
A group of indigenous people from the Yukpa ethnic group came on the afternoon of Tuesday June 6 to the General Rafael Urdaneta bridge over Lake Maracaibo to close the passage as a protest measure. According to the newspaper La Verdad, this occurred one day after they were evicted from the Maracaibo Passenger Terminal, which they kept closed for almost 48 hours.
Journalist Mariela Nava reported via Twitter what was happening, where the Yukpas were blocking the way for cars on the Bridge while police and military officials were cordoning off the area.
Nava said that the Yukpas had also taken over the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Police in the San Francisco municipality.
At least six months ago, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples promised the Yukpas to buy the crafts they make in the Sierra de Perijá. However, at the end of May, it was said that they would not purchase any more products. They allege that this is their only input to live due to the poor roads to carry their crops.
With additional information from The National / Final version
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