opinion

Venezuelan journalist gunned down by two hit men
by Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders is dismayed by January 16’s fatal shooting of Orel Zambrano, the editor of the political weekly ABC, in Valencia, in the north-central state of Carabobo. Zambrano was also vice-president of privately-owned Radio América 890 AM and a columnist for the regional daily Notitarde as well as being a lawyer.

His murder came just three days after the attempted murder of Rafael Finol of the privately-owned daily El Regional, who was grazed by a bullet.

“We offer our condolences to Zambrano’s family and colleagues, and we hope the investigators will quickly identify those responsible for both this murder - the motive of which remains to be established - and the attempted murder of Finol,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These two shooting attacks in the space of three days raise grave concerns about the safety of journalists. Zambrano may have been the victim of a reprisal for his recent coverage of a drug story. This possibility should be investigated.”

Zambrano, 62, was gunned down at around 3 p.m. on January 16. He had just got out of his car and was walking towards a movie rental store when he was intercepted by two men on a motorcycle, one of whom shot him three times at close range. He died on the spot from a gunshot to the head while his assailants fled.

Zambrano had recently covered several drug trafficking cases including one involving the Makled family, an influential business family in the region. Brothers Abdala, Alex and Basel Makled were arrested in possession of around 400 kilos of cocaine during a search of a family property on 14 November and are now the subject of an investigation by the national prosecutor’s office.