(IPYS/IFEX) – On 12 October 2003, three photographers, all of whom are correspondents for international news agencies, came under attack when a group of soldiers that was patrolling the Santiago Segundo zone, in the city of El Alto, fired in their direction. The incident occurred around midday (local time), when soldiers used teargas to break […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 12 October 2003, three photographers, all of whom are correspondents for international news agencies, came under attack when a group of soldiers that was patrolling the Santiago Segundo zone, in the city of El Alto, fired in their direction.
The incident occurred around midday (local time), when soldiers used teargas to break up a community meeting.
The gas and a hail of gunfire reached a market stall where Martín Alípaz, of the EFE news agency, Luis Eduardo Galdieri, of Associated Press (AP), Carlos Barria, of Reuters, and a Televisión Española (TVE) camera operator were hiding. According to Alípaz, the soldiers knew we were there and that we had cameras, but still fired at us.”
According to “La Prensa” newspaper, the photographers ran for cover but were not able to completely escape the gunfire. Alípaz said that, hours later, they met up with a Radio Pachamama journalist who was hit in the arm with a pellet, although under different circumstances.
On 12 October, an announcement was broadcast on television stating that the Bolivian press would continue reporting on the conflict, “because the public has the right to be informed.” Journalists called on the government and the opposition “to solve the country’s problems and safeguard democracy”.
In a press release, the Bolivia Press Workers Federation (Federación de Trabajadores de la Prensa de Bolivia) stated that journalists were facing a crisis situation and were being threatened by people “who still do not understand that the role of the press is to report on everything that is happening in the country.”
