texas-moody

Arsonists set fire to journalists' organization offices in Venezuela

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  • December 6, 2012

By Isabela Fraga

The headquarters of the Venezuelan National Union of Journalists (CNP in Spanish) in the Caribbean state of Miranda was set on fire in the early morning of Friday, Nov. 30, reported the Press and Society Institute.

According to the institution's secretary, Miriam Pacheco, the fire injured no one and caused no serious damage to the office. Only a computer, a mattress and other small items were damaged. "They tried to set fire to the room where financial records were kept but we believe it's possible to recover the information," Pacheco told the website Noticias de Aquí.

The secretary of CNP-Miranda said that it was possible that the arsonists had a key to the building since there was no sign of forced entry. The fire was not serious, according to Pacheco, because the fire burned itself out for lack of oxygen after the arsonists closed the room's doors, reported the newspaper Notitarde.

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.