Television reporter attacked while covering debate

OCTOBER 25, 2007 
Posted December 7, 2007

Paulina Moreno, Ávila TV
ATTACKED

Moreno, a reporter for the government-owned Ávila TV, was injured during an explosion at a debate in Caracas on the constitutional reforms proposed by President Hugo Chávez Frías.

Moreno was covering a student debate on the reforms at the Pedagogical Institute of Caracas when she was hit on the head with an unidentified object, the reporter said during an interview on the official television station Venezolanade Televisión. Moreno said that when she turned around to see what was happening, something exploded near her waist. As the reporter was blinded and deafened momentarily by the explosion, unknown individuals pulled her onto the floor, where she was sprayed with an unidentified liquid, she told Venezolana de Televsión. Jose Manuel Iglesias, president of Avila TV, told local reporters that Moreno and her cameraman had been sprayed with insecticide.

Moreno received minor injuries, according to reports in the local press.