VALENCIA, Venezuela - 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 said 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 said the shooting is under investigation, and Maduro said at a news conference Friday that it has been “well-established” by ballistics experts that the shot came from the opposition protesters.
But 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 that several 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 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.
Carmona is one of at least eight people who have been killed during political protests roiling the South American country since opposition rallies Feb. 12 ended with three deaths in the capital, including one government supporter.
Her death has left many on edge as the opposition plans large rallies for today.
The government said Thursday that it would send paratroopers to a border area torn by fierce clashes between police and anti-government protesters. But 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.
Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres announced Thursday that a battalion of paratroopers was being sent to Tachira to restore calm.
But San Cristobal’s mayor rebuffed the offer, saying it will 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.
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 whom authorities accuse of being part of a plot for a coup against Maduro.
While several large demonstrations have been peaceful, smaller groups of protesters have lobbed firebombs 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 men firing guns from motorcycles.
The clashes with authorities and the pursuit of anti-government activists take place in darkness. During the day, Caracas has largely operated as normal, with businesses and schools open.
Information for this article was contributed by Joshua Goodman and Vivian Sequera of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 02/22/2014