[6] On Friday 22 February 2019 the Venezuelan Army sent troops to the Brazilian border, driving through Kumarakapay, despite the fact the tribe held autonomy over the town.

[7][8][9] Local Indigenous Protesters and leaders in Kumarakapay attempted to halt advancing personnel carriers by building a road blockade, managing to detain several soldiers.

[13][14] Justo Noguera, the governor of Bolivar, responded that the Pemons' attempt to stop the military vehicles was a terrorist attack; also denying that the people killed were civilians.

[8][15] Over 966–1,500 tribesmen from the region, many from Kumarakapay, fled to Brazil shortly after the attacks, fearful of further reprisals and human rights violations, forming one of the largest exoduses in South American history.

[22] The Venezuelan authorities later accused the Pemon locals of being backed by foreign governments; Jorge Arreaza, tweeting," From Peru they enter through Colombia and receive support also in Brazil.

[24] The principal leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Juan Guaidó, tweeted later that the incident in Kumarakapay, as well as Maduro's treatment of Indigenous communities in general, was "murder" that would "not go unpunished.