Language

gunmen not apparently anything

Submitted August 17, 2004 - 11:04 am by Benjamin Melançon
You're right Jeff, I shouldn't have given Reed a pass on the 'apparently Chavista' shooters.  I certainly don't consider it plagiarism or opposition propaganda, though.  I think it's fair journalism, citing the only source seemingly available for this information, the Caracas fire chief.  But the incident could have at least been written about without irresponsibly tagging the identity of the shooters, and at best with more context.

Here's the paragraph in question:

A 62-year-old woman died and four others were wounded after a group of apparently pro-Chavez motorcyclists fired into a small opposition protest in a Caracas plaza, said Caracas Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno. Opposition congressman Ernesto Alvarenga was among those hurt, Briceno said.

The evidence that the shooters were Chavistas is a tad too obvious.  Wrote Alexandra Olson Monday morning for the AP (the first article Jeff Simpson cited):

Chavez condemned the violence, but said he wouldn't be surprised if the shooters, who waved posters urging the "no" vote, were sent by opposition leaders to provoke chaos.

I doubt Chavez supporters would be advertising their affiliation while shooting people, unless they were targeting someone big.

Is this opposition legislator Ernesto Alvarenga anywhere near that level?  I think I'd have to see his wounds to believe he was hit.  A lot of things about the incident confuse me.

Since I can't find any articles that refer to BOTH the shooting characterized as "One person died and 10 others were wounded today when gunmen opened fire [from motorbikes] on voters just outside Caracas [...] in an impoverished area 17km east of the capital" in the Miami Herald, Monday the 16th and elsewhere called an attack on anti-Chavez protesters after the vote.

The Olson article also has:

About 200 people kept protesting after the shooting, hurling stones at passing vehicles displaying "no" signs.

So was this two incidents in separate places, or were the anti-Chavez people protesting in a mostly pro-Chavez, "impoverished" neighborhood, or were the people fired on not opposition at all?

I hope Reed Lindsay will come in here with his view on his own article and the writing process, and that other Narco News people in Venezuela can  help clear up this single (or double?) incident of shooting.

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