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Guyana security officers to confront ‘Sindicato’ threat
– but authorities need help to ID gang members, says Ramjattan
Guyana is sending more law enforcement officers to interior locations of Region One (Barima Wini) close to the Guyana/ Venezuela border, following rising appeals from miners about the presence of the ruthless Venezuela gang members called the ‘Sindicato’.
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan told Kaieteur News yesterday that the safety of Guyanese along the border is being given priority by the APNU+AFC administration, but authorities need residents to assist in the process.
“We need people in the area to identify the suspected gang members a little clearer for us. That will be of some help, but we also will have to send in some more law enforcement officers to help with the situation. We are presently acting on all the information that we have gotten,” Ramjattan stated.
The situation escalated in recent weeks as Venezuela continues to battle runaway inflation, food shortages and thousands of its citizens fleeing daily. Last week, miners paid for an advertisement in Kaieteur News, appealing for “urgent help”.
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan
According to the advertisement, miners operating in the Cuyuni River which separates Guyana and Venezuela, are being threatened by the operations of the Sindicato. Gang members are demanding food, cash and other valuables from miners in exchange for safe passage.
According to the advertisement, the gang was demanding a gram of gold for every five drums of fuel that had to pass.
A few weeks ago, the Sindicato reportedly moved down-river and set up a camp on the Venezuela side of the river, about three miles from Eteringbang.
“We are heavily dependent on the river for transporting supplies and food stuff for our operations. This is dangerous. The Cuyuni River is open waters that also belong to Guyana. We are not supposed to pay anything,” miners insist.
Ramjattan asserted that the concerns are being dealt with at the National Security Council and the leadership of the Guyana Police Force.
The ‘Sindicato’ allegedly beheaded this young Guyanese man in Venezuela last January
The Minister disclosed that last Thursday, he led members of the bi-partisan Parliamentary oversight committee on security to Region One where they visited four police stations. The team included Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder and from the opposition, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Parliamentarian, Harry Gill.
“This was a major visit to assess the needs of law enforcement and to help us understand firsthand the situation on the ground,” Ramjattan stated.
Miners have appealed for Government to place matching camps on the Guyana side of the Cuyuni River to protect locals who use the waterway.
The gang, last year, descended on San Martin, a Venezuela community opposite the Eteringbang landing on the Cuyuni.
However, the Venezuelan citizens objected after the gang members started to harass them for toll payments and percentage of goods being transported on the river.
Another gang has reportedly set up another camp about 20 miles away in a place called Butanamo.
The miners not only want the local army which has a presence at Eteringbang to send out patrols to ensure that they have a presence around the illegal bases of the Sindicato, on the opposite side of the river, but for escort for the boats that traverse the Cuyuni River.
The ‘Sindicato’ has been blamed for the killing of a Guyanese following an attack on a mining camp in Venezuela some months ago.
They are also said to have been involved in the beheading of another young Guyanese a few months ago. A gruesome video showed the killers cutting off the man’s ears before severing his neck.
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