Journalist Nelson Bocaranda criticized a presumed plan to discredit journalists who comment on controversial political events that happen in Venezuela, reported the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) on Monday, March 12.
Bocaranda reported to the Press and Society Institutethat there was a plan to kidnap him and then drop him off, drugged, at a hotel. This would later be spread throughout the news in an effort to to damage his credibility.
Despised by the President Hugo Chavez's supporters ever since he reported the exclusive that Chavez had cancer, the the Venezuelan reporter has been under constant attack in official government media, insulted and called a liar, reported the news agency Reuters.
The journalist has received death threats and is worried about his safety. "I consider the government responsible if anything happens to me or my loved ones. I want to announce this because I have already received threats from three different sources," he said, as quoted by the news site Clases de Periodismo.
Bocaranda also recently reported on his website, Runrunes, that he was the victim of a cyber attack, a practice that is becoming a common way to intimidate and censor journalists that criticize the Venezuelan government.
