Officials of the National Guard and the police repressed the opponents who were demonstrating against the administration of Nicolás Maduro in the Plaza de la República in Maracaibo (Zulia). In the revolt, one journalist was arrested and two were attacked. Information professionals in Aragua and Carabobo were also victims of abuses during coverage of opposition rallies.
Journalists Joanna Barboza and Felipe López were attacked by officials from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim) in Maracaibo, Zulia state, when they were covering the protest called by the opposition leader, María Corina Machado, in the Plaza de la Republic.
The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) reported the case in its count of and he explained that Barboza identified himself as a journalist and one of the uniformed men responded: “I don’t care that you are the press, damn it.”
«We were covering the rally in the Plaza de la República when some Dgcim officials and some supposed groups, people dressed in black, attacked us while we were recording. “We were working calmly and they wanted to take my cell phone, they gave me a slap and they took my phone away,” Barboza told The Truth Newspaper.
*Read also: Officials repress with tear gas bombs in Valencia, Maracaibo and Trujillo
He also pointed out that the uniformed officers crushed his microphone by throwing it to the ground and stepping on it with their boot. He said that Felipe López was hit, but having his journalist’s card in his pocket cushioned the impact a little. His license was destroyed.
«They pushed me, and as best I could I took my phone and left the place. Those from the Dgcim were very aggressive (…) That happened on the corner of Redvital, one block after the La Consolación church,” he stated.
A detainee
The communicator Edinson Castro, who was attending the rally in the Plaza de La República, was arrested at the scene; denounced the National College of Journalists (CNP) Zulia.
Castro is a professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the University of Zulia (LUZ), coordinator of the Speech courses and member of the Disciplinary Court of the CNP Zulia.
Officials from the National Guard and the Bolivarian National Police repressed the opponents who gathered to demonstrate against the administration of Nicolás Maduro.
According to the regional media The truththe movement of military and police officials is reported in areas such as Beltway 1 and 2, and the surrounding areas of the Rafael Belloso Chacín University (Urbe). In La Pícola, a “motorized caravan” of the National Armed Forces (FAN) was registered.
Before 7:30 am, the Plaza de la República, located on 77th Street (5 de Julio), was already taken by soldiers from the National Guard (GN).
Similar scene in Carabobo
The National College of Journalists (CNP) reported that a GN official “took away his cell phone” from the Venevisión channel’s correspondent in Carabobo, Randolfo Blanco, while he was broadcasting a live demonstration on Bolívar Norte Avenue in Valencia.
Prior to this, the journalist had been threatened by officials in olive green uniforms; reviewed The TV Bus.
#Carabobo At 12:38 pm in Valencia there is a strong GNB presence and they threatened a Venevisión reporter.
Expand here 👇https://t.co/ar5UOvZv9F
— El Bus TV (@elbusTV) January 9, 2025
Earlier, the GN repressed the opposition concentration on Bolívar Avenue, North of Valencia, with tear gas bombs, when they were just beginning to gather, he reported. The Carabobeño.
An anti-riot team was deployed on 137th Street to prevent protesters from reaching the protest rally point. The officials were at the concentration point of the demonstration since the night of Wednesday, January 8.
Bus assault in Aragua
Groups linked to the ruling party stole the cell phone from the correspondent of VPI TV in Aragua, Reinaldo Campins, after having forced him to delete the material recorded during the opposition protest.
Campins explained that he struggled with members of the groups to not hand over his cell phone, but he stated that they shot him several times to intimidate him and there he handed over his equipment.
He said that these people were hooded, dressed in black and all rode motorcycles and that they also stole the phones of several protesters.
*Read also: Opponents heed Machado’s call and went out to demonstrate throughout the country
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
Post Views: 279
