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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Disasters & Emergencies

Australian correspondent reports harassment by Venezuelan security forces while covering earthquake tragedy

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • An Australian correspondent for ABC News reported being intimidated and harassed by Venezuelan security forces while covering earthquake aftermath.
  • The journalist stated six officials approached him and his team outside a Caracas morgue, threatening detention and demanding they delete footage.
  • He described the incident as a small example of the regime's actions, noting other reports of officials demanding payment to retrieve bodies and blocking aid.

Australian ABC News correspondent Kamin Gock has reported being intimidated and harassed by Venezuelan security forces while covering the aftermath of recent earthquakes. Gock stated that six officials approached him and his team outside a Caracas morgue, threatening them with detention by the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and demanding they delete recorded footage.

Call the DGCIM people there, so they come. Get the photos and delete them.

— Venezuelan security officialDuring the intimidation of the Australian correspondent and his team outside a Caracas morgue.

In a video detailing the incident, Gock included audio of the officers speaking intimidatorily. One officer can be heard saying, "Call the DGCIM people there, so they come. Get the photos and delete them." His producer in Venezuela suggested contacting their country's embassy immediately. The correspondent noted they were forced to delete graphic material they had recorded.

"They photographed our visas and checked our cameras to delete shots we had recorded of the building," Gock recounted. "A local producer helped us communicate and assured them we were in the country legally and following their laws, so we were allowed to leave."

They photographed our visas and checked our cameras to delete shots we had recorded of the building. A local producer helped us communicate and assured them we were in the country legally and following their laws, so we were allowed to leave.

— Kamin GockDescribing the actions taken by Venezuelan security forces against him and his team.

Although they left Venezuela, Gock reflected on the irregularities he observed. "This was a small example of the regime in action. But the signs of how destructive it can be were everywhere," he said. He cited reports of national guardsmen demanding payment from people trying to retrieve bodies of loved ones from the rubble and international aid workers being blocked from entering devastated communities. He also noted that people were using gardening tools and their bare hands to recover trapped relatives, while soldiers carried weapons instead of shovels.

This was a small example of the regime in action. But the signs of how destructive it can be were everywhere.

— Kamin GockReflecting on the incident and the broader situation in Venezuela.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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