El Universal journo gets justice for a punch in the face

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

41st Control Court judge Maria Trastoli has accepted a state prosecutor’s call to put a Military Intelligence Directorate (DIM) officer on trial for punching a journalist.

On June 20, 2002, undercover DIM agent, Marco Pluvio Rosales Salas struck El Universal journalist Alicia La Rotta to recover his ID card ... which La Rotta says she picked up during an anti-government demonstration.

La Rotta was reporting on the march called to protest President Hugo Chavez Frias’ alleged unconstitutional use of military uniform, and uncovered Rosales Salas posing as a photo-journalist taking photos of the protesters.

Rosales Salas blew his cover by reacting in typical macho fashion, characteristic of untrained uncover security agents. The judge has banned the DIM agent from leaving Venezuela and ordered that he must present himself before the courts once a week pending further court appearances.