Globovisión reporter Daniel Guillermo Colina, a camera operator and an assistant were covering a protest in Caracas when several people pushed and kicked them.
(IPYS/IFEX) – 8 November 2011 – On 31 October 2011, Globovisión reporter Daniel Guillermo Colina, his camera operator and an assistant were attacked while they were covering a protest by patients and their relatives outside an army hospital in southwest Caracas, Venezuela.
Colina reported that he asked the members of the National Guard who were guarding the hospital if they could cover the protest. The guards gave them permission to work in the area.
A short time later, when they were covering the protest, several government sympathizers in red t-shirts, a ‘chavista’ symbol, pushed and kicked Colina. One of the unidentified attackers even threw a chair at the journalist, hitting him in the head. The attack was videotaped and broadcasted by Globovisión.
The camera operator and his assistant were also hit and pushed around but they have decided not to to reveal their names for fear of reprisals.
The TV station has raised questions about the National Guard officers who did not attempt to protect the journalists even though the attack occurred in front of them.
