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| Relatives and friends carry the coffin of Genesis Carmona, in Valencia, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 21, 2014. The university student and beauty queen was buried Friday in Valencia where she was slain during a political protest, a victim of what government opponents say is the kind of indiscriminate violence that has been used to stifle dissent across the country by supporters of President Nicolas Maduro. |
VALENCIA,
Venezuela (AP) -- A university student beauty queen was mourned
Friday in the provincial Venezuelan city where she was slain this week
during a political protest, a victim of what government opponents say is
indiscriminate violence used by President Nicolas Maduro and his
supporters to stifle dissent across the country.
Family
members and friends of 22-year-old Genesis Carmona say the former Miss
Tourism 2013 for the central Venezuelan state of Carabobo was shot down
by members of the armed militias known as "colectivos" who opened fire
on a demonstration in Valencia on Tuesday.
The
government says the incident is under investigation, and Maduro said at
a news conference Friday that it has been "well-established" by
ballistics experts that shot came from the opposition protesters.
Mourners at the private Mass and graveside memorial for Carmona said
they have no doubt which side fired the fatal round.
"She
wanted to support her country and, well, look what it cost her for
going out with a flag and a whistle.
Killed by government mercenaries,"
said Jose Gil, an uncle of Carmona.
The
violence drew condemnation Friday from U.S. based watchdog group Human
Rights Watch, which said "Venezuelan security forces have used excessive
and unlawful force against protesters on multiple occasions since
February 12, 2014, including beating detainees and shooting at crowds of
unarmed people."
The report also said "the
government has censored the news media, blocking transmission of a TV
channel and threatening to prosecute news outlets for their coverage of
the violence."
The U.S. news channel CNN said
Friday four of its journalists were notified by the Information Ministry
that they are no longer allowed to report in the country. They include
CNN en Espanol anchor Patricia Janiot.
The
U.S. State Department also issued a warning Friday to U.S. citizens in
Venezuela to "maintain a low profile and to avoid all areas of civil
disruption."
Maduro has insisted that the
protesters are "fascist" elements intent on fomenting a coup and pledged
to crack down. On Thursday, a judge determined there was enough
evidence to detain opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who surrendered to
authorities a day earlier. The charges against Lopez include arson and
criminal incitement related to a massive Feb. 12 rally.
Speaking
Friday to international media, Maduro called out what he said was a
"campaign of demonization to isolate the Bolivarian revolution."
People
at Carmona's service who were also at Tuesday's rally said they saw a
group of up to 50 men on
motorcycles, armed with handguns fire directly
into the crowd of about 3,000 demonstrators, setting off a
panicked
stampede through the street.
"We were protesting peacefully and this was like a war," said Emilio Morillo, an 18-year-old university student.
Kendry
Gill, 22-year-old law student also at the rally, said nine people were
shot, including a young woman who remains hospitalized in critical
condition with a perforated lung.
"It was practically an ambush," Gill said. "We're peaceful. We don't have any weapons."
Carmona,
who was in her final year in a marketing program at a university in
Valencia, was not ardently political, friends and family said. Her uncle
said she was drawn to the rally by the dismal economic conditions that
the oil-rich country has experienced after 15 years of
socialism-inspired policies and that her mother had gone with her to
protect her.
"There's no food, no milk, no
baby food ... It is horrible what is happening in this country," Gil
said. "That's why she was out at the protest."
Carmona
is one of at least eight people who have been killed during political
protests roiling this South American country since massive opposition
rallies on Feb. 12 ended with three deaths in the capital, including one
government supporter. With even Maduro lamenting the tragedy during a
speech on national TV, the young woman's death has resonated in part
because she was a pageant winner in a country that has long prized its
production of more Miss Universe winners than any other nation.
Her
death also came amid increasing concern about escalating violence in
the country, and has left many on edge as the opposition plans large
rallies on Saturday.
The government said
Thursday that it would send paratroopers to a border area torn by fierce
clashes between police and anti-government protesters even as security
forces are being accused of turning many parts of the country into
free-fire zones in their bid to silence a rejuvenated movement
challenging socialist rule.
The unrest has
been particularly high in the western state of Tachira, on Venezuela's
border with Colombia, where anti-government protesters have clashed with
police and National Guard units, disrupting life in its capital, San
Cristobal.
"These units will enable the city
to function, so food can get in, so people can go about their normal
lives," said Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres. "It's simply
meant to restore order."
San Cristobal's mayor
said the paratroopers would only exacerbate tensions in the city of
600,000. He accused the government of causing the troubles by cracking
down on peaceful protests and cutting off vital services in the city,
including public transportation and the Internet.
"Our
problems can't be resolved with soldiers," Daniel Ceballos, a member of
the opposition, told the AP. "We need gas, flour, medicine and toilet
paper."
National Guard troops and members of
pro-government militias have swarmed through the streets of Caracas and
other cities firing volleys, at times indiscriminately, in repeated
spasms of nighttime violence in recent days.
Henrique
Capriles, the two-time presidential candidate of an opposition
coalition, said the government is engaging in "brutal repression," in
some cases breaking into apartment buildings to arrest people
authorities accuse of being part of a plot for a coup against Maduro.
"What does the government want, a civil war?" Capriles asked at a news conference Thursday.
While
several large demonstrations by thousands of people have been peaceful,
smaller groups of protesters have lobbed fire bombs and rocks and
blocked streets with flaming barricades of trash. Troops and police have
responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and blasts from water cannons -
as well as raids by gun-firing men from motorcycles.
The
clashes with authorities as well as the pursuit of anti-government
activists by troops and militias take place in darkness. During the day,
Caracas has largely operated as normal, with businesses and schools
open and people going about their business, while stocking up on
groceries in case of further unrest.
