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Alert

Reporters assaulted while covering protests in Barquisimeto against constitutional reform

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 7 November, "El Informador" newspaper journalist Gerardo Morón, was beaten by a group of hooded persons when he covered the march which had been organized by university students in Barquisimeto, state of Lara, to protest against the constitutional reform.

The assailants took away his camera, his cell phone, his personal documents and a bag with 120,000 bolívares (US$ 55). They also hit him in the face and frightened him by firing a bullet that hit a wall.

The same group of hooded men also threw stones at reporter Ricardo Marapacuto, of the newspaper "El Impulso".

Two days before, during a different student demonstration manifestation in Barquisimeto, a camera operator for Televen television station, William Candamo, was hit on the chest by a rock.

All three reporters suffered mild injuries. Morón did not recover his belongings.