Armed Men Attack Caracas Hospital during Opposition Protest Latin American Herald Tribune July 4, 2017
CARACAS – A group of armed men attacked on Tuesday a Caracas hospital during an opposition protest, wounding at least five people who were in the vicinity.
The Attorney General’s Office has launched an investigation into the incident.
According to two doctors at the center who were interviewed by EFE, the attack took place while some of the hospital’s doctors were participating in a protest called by the opposition against the constitutional assembly convened by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
“A group of armed men arrived at the health center and destroyed the clinic and the windows,” one of them said, blaming the damage on followers of Maduro.
EFE verified that the perpetrators of the vandalism destroyed the hospital’s entrance door and damaged several windows.
Meanwhile, the Public Ministry announced the launching of an investigation into the “damage caused to the Hospital Clinico in Caracas,” located in the central district of Libertador.
“According to preliminary information, at approximately 1 pm on Tuesday a group of people riding motorcycles hurled objects at – and opened fire on – people who were near the health center,” the AG’s Office said in a statement, adding that it will try to determine who bears responsibility for the attack.
Photographs posted on Twitter by several opposition lawmakers show several doctors outfitted in white lab coats at the protest.
One of the lawmakers, Jose Manuel Olivares, said that “paramilitary groups” were responsible for the attack, while fellow legislator Richard Blanco blamed “criminals of the dictatorship.”
Since April 1, Venezuela has been mired in a wave of pro- and anti-government protests, some of which have turned violent leaving at least 91 people dead and more than 1,000 injured, according to the government.
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