“On December 2 in the town of Altagracia de Orituco in central Guárico state, armed assailants shot [Jamel] Louka, a reporter and photographer with the privately owned Diario La Antena and a contributor to independent news website El Pitazo, in his left arm as he was fleeing what he described as a botched kidnapping attempt outside his home, according to news reports and Louka, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app.
Louka said he did not know the motive for the attack but said he is often criticized by local government officials for his reports on shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity amid Venezuela’s economic crisis. ‘All of my stories are controversial,’ he told CPJ.”
