Bomb explodes at TV station

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard today deplored the 9 July bomb attack on the Globovisión TV station in Caracas and "the persistence of acts of intimidation against privately-owned media" in Venezuela. He called on interior and justice minister Diosdado Cabello to inform Reporters Without Borders of the result of the official enquiry into the incident that had been started The bomb, a military grenade which was not very powerful and caused little damage, was thrown from a vehicle soon after midnight and landed in the reception area of the building, in the northeastern suburb of La Florida. The authorities increased security around other media buildings in the city. Minister Cabello deplored the attack and announced the inquiry. A bomb exploded on 31 January this year outside the Caracas offices of the daily newspaper Así es la noticia, damaging the front of it. The paper's management had been threatened shortly beforehand by an anonymous phone caller who criticised the paper's anti-government editorial line.