Barricadas and Guarimbas

The idea today was to block as many streets as possible with what is called "barricadas" and "guarimbas" so people would not be able to go to work or to have a normal day. This was accomplished to some extent since in the streets you could hear people saying that they couldn't make it work, some had to go back for different reasons and also the blockage only allowed police, firefighter, and ambulances to pass through. I couldn't make it to work because of the blockage and the fear that it would only get worst and more difficult to get home later on. 

Here are some pictures of what happened only around the place where I'm living! Which is a secure and calm zone, so imagine how the rest of the country was. I hope these photos can illustrate to you a little bit more of the daily situation here, as these barricadas are now part of the daily life here in different areas of the Capital District and other states of Venezuela. 

P.S. all the photos were taken with my phone. 

11th Day of Protests #22F

Yesterday was the 11th day that people in many states of Venezuela have been out in the streets pacifically protesting. Although none of the TV channels of the country show what is really happening everyday (unless it has to do with their events), here I have some shots from the concentration that took place in Caracas yesterday. I'm glad that I'm not only helping by reporting the truth on the newspaper, but also that yesterday I could support the cause and be out there with many other Venezuelans that are full of hope and decided to fight for a better country. Hope you enjoy the pictures and that they someone transmit to you some of the hope all those people there have. 

#PrayforVenezuela #Freedomofspeech

As you might have heard on the news, Venezuela is on their 6th day of protest. These protests started in many states of the country on the 12th of February and haven't stopped since then, on the contrary more people have been joining and more cities are participating. Is my style to always have a small text and let my picture talk, but if you want to know what is really going in Venezuela, there is a great video which explains it very clear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFS6cP9auDc. I am currently doing my internships in Caracas in a newspaper called El Universal and so I have been part of some of the protests. Sometimes I had my camera and other times I left my house with nothing but my ID. I hope you like the photos and that they inspire you to spread the news with your friends and family, because my country needs to be heard and is just getting harder and harder for us since the government is doing everything to keep us quiet. I am talking about TV channels not showing anything that has to with the opposition or framing them and making them look violent, newspapers not having paper to print full issues, journalists being attacked if they report the truth (leaving bad the government), and now they're interfering Twitter so we can't see photos and blocking users that show what really happens at the protests. This last one is terrible because is one of the few windows we have to see the truth... Anyways watch the video and see my pictures!

This first is from a protests organised by the print news outlets to complain the lack of paper and demand for this to change. 

This was a small group of students at Caurimare, El Cafetal, protesting at night.

This is from a small protest of some members of El Universal and the protest was organised by some news agencies and the idea was to go in front of their own building and show their banners when the traffic light was red. The aim was to ask for the release of 3 journalists that were arrested. 

This last group of photos is from the corner where one of the victims (Bassil) of the 12th of February was shot and later died. Some of my colleagues walked passed the place and saw a bouquet of flowers and a candle and took the initiative to bring more flowers, write messages with chalk, light candles and encourage people to do the same so Bassil would not be forgotten and to remind people where a hero fell down.