Luiz Augusto Quadros Thoune

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– Brazilian is latest victimWith the first anniversary of the Bartica massacre drawing near, fear has once again gripped that community, with reports of several armed robberies within the past few days.The latest occurred at about midday yesterday, when two dreadlocked men, one of whom was carrying a firearm, attacked a Brazilian businessman, Luiz Augusto Quadros Thoune, and relieved him of a substantial sum of cash.The Brazilian, who operates the Excel Mineral Company, which is housed on the bottom flat of the popular Hi-Lo Hotel on First Avenue, Bartica and deals in the purchase of gold and diamonds as well as a money transfer service, was tied up with duct tape by the two men, who escaped unchallenged.Police, in a press release, stated that the men had entered the Brazilian’s office on the pretext that they were selling gold.According to Mildred Rodrigues, called Aunt May, the manageress of the hotel, the men struck when the Brazilian was alone in his office.The woman said that she was at the back of the premises when her grandson came and told her that there was a robbery.“When I went to the front, I saw Luiz. He showed me the duct tape that they tied him up with. The police were passing by and we called them in,” Rodrigues told this newspaper.She said that from all appearances, the men are not from the area, a situation which has confronted residents of Bartica, a community which once was the gateway to Guyana’s goldfields.According to one resident, with the Mashramani calypso activity taking place in the community, scores of strangers have been coming into Bartica, and there is no way of telling who is genuine or who has bad intentions.“Different people come to Bartica, some to sell. How could we identify the real bandits? We are very afraid,” the resident said.A source in the area has reported that there were at least three robberies in Bartica on Friday night.Also, on Monday last, a butcher was robbed at Mongrippa Hill.But, so far, the police have not arrested anyone in connection with the robberies.