By Diego Cruz
A Colombian journalist and his work partner were treated violently by the National Guard of Venezuela while covering protests on Feb. 14, reported the digital newspaper Infobae.
Juan Pablo Bieri, reporter for the news network Red Más Noticias, was covering a protest against the government of President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. Following a conflict between protesters and the National Guard, Bieri and his partner were violently detained inside an armored vehicle. The journalist shared his experience with Colombian newspaper El Tiempo in an interview published on Feb. 26.
“The National Guard approached us and without caring that we were from the press and were carrying equipment they hit us, insulted us and subdued us,” Bieri said, “We didn’t get a chance to say anything else, because they grabbed us like thieves and kicked us into the armored vehicle.”
Although Bieri never thought they were in danger of being killed, he described the situation as a very tense experience, especially because members of the Guard beat several Venezuelan students who had also been captured in front of the journalists.
The journalists were detained for an hour and a half before a colleague from the news network Globo Visión saw them and told the vehicle’s driver they had captured journalists. A colonel from the Guard released them after apologizing for any “excessive force.”
While the journalists were being released their captors took away their cell phones and money, photocopied their passports and returned their equipment. The man in charge of the operative also told Bieri they now knew who he was and could find him in Bogotá, Colombia. The journalists returned to their country the next day after the Colombian embassy said they could not guarantee their safety.
Aside from Bieri and his partner, at least 20 journalists were hurt and 11 arrested during protests in several cities in Venezuela two weeks ago, an action condemned by press organizations.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
