Journalist shot, 2 detained as Venezuela cracks down on election protest coverage

Bogotá, August 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Venezuelan authorities to allow the media to report safely on protests over President Nicolás Maduro’s widely disputed claim to have won the country’s July 28 presidential election.  

Government security forces shot and injured one journalist and arrested six others—two of whom remain in detention—while covering the protests.

“CPJ is extremely concerned about a sharp increase in the harassment and detention of journalists in Venezuela by government security agents following the contentious July 28 presidential election,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, from São Paulo. “CPJ calls on authorities to allow the media to do its job of keeping the public properly informed in the aftermath of the vote.”

Venezuela’s National Press Workers Union (SNTP) said the state regulator Conatel warned numerous private radio stations in the states of Bolívar, Falcón, Zulia, Carabobo, and Aragua not to report on opposition protests, as broadcasting news that “violates elements classified as violence” could result in fines or the cancellation of their broadcast licenses.

Última Hora, an online newspaper in western Portuguesa state, said Friday that it would close after state governor Primitivo Cedeño accused local media outlets of “inciting hatred” in their coverage of the presidential election and its aftermath, according to the SNTP.  

Members of the National Guard shot Jesús Romero, editor of news website Código Urbe, in the abdomen and leg while he was covering anti-government protests in Maracay, the capital of Aragua state, on Monday. Romero is recovering at a local hospital. 

National Guard troops arrested Yousner Alvarado, a camera operator covering protests that same day for the online news site Noticia Digital, in the western city of Barinas. SNTP reported that he remains detained and has been charged with terrorism. 

Police officers arrested Paul León, a camera operator for online TV station VPI-TV, while he covered protests in the western city of Valera on Tuesday. He remained in detention as of Friday, August 2.

CPJ’s calls seeking comment from Conatel and the Defense Ministry, which controls the National Guard, were unanswered.