(IPYS/IFEX) – On 17 March 2006, journalist Marsha Lee González and photographer Trina Marichales, both of the newspaper “El Luchador”, were assaulted by alleged supporters of Lenín Figueroa, mayor of the municipality of Heres, state of Bolivar, in southern Venezuela, while they were covering a demonstration by municipal employees. González told IPYS that a man […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 17 March 2006, journalist Marsha Lee González and photographer Trina Marichales, both of the newspaper “El Luchador”, were assaulted by alleged supporters of Lenín Figueroa, mayor of the municipality of Heres, state of Bolivar, in southern Venezuela, while they were covering a demonstration by municipal employees.
González told IPYS that a man she did not recognize insulted her and punched her in the stomach after she insisted on asking Figueroa to make a statement about the labor dispute. Marichales was pushed and an attempt was made to take her camera.
Leopoldo Nessi, president of the municipal council, told the region’s newspapers that the assailants were not municipal employees, but members of the ruling party Podemos.
According to González, Podemos representative Migdalia Ramos ordered the assault against the journalists. She also pointed out that Ramos filed an accusation against her with the Institution for Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations (CICPC), presenting her (González) as the aggressor when it was she who was assaulted.
