Press release

Director-General condemns killing of journalists Andrés Eloy Nieves Zacarías and José Carmelo Bislick in Venezuela

UNESCO observatory of killed journalists

2020/86

11 September 2020

Last update:20 April 2023

The Director-General, of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has called on the Venezuelan authorities to investigate the killings of journalists José Carmelo Bislick on 18 August in the town of Güiria, and of Andrés Eloy Nieves Zacarías on 21 August in the city of Cabimas.

I condemn the killings of Andrés Eloy Nieves Zacarías and José Carmelo Bislick. I urge the authorities to investigate these killings and bring their perpetrators to trial. Threats and attacks on journalists are unacceptable obstacles to the exercise of press freedom and freedom of expression, both of which are indispensable to free informed debate.

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General

The body of José Carmelo Bislick, host of a programme on radio station Omega 94.1 where he recently denounced crime and corruption, was found on the side of a road in Güiria. Bislick, who was also a teacher, had been abducted from his home the previous evening.

Andrés Eloy Nieves Zacarías, a reporter for La Guacamaya TV, died during a raid by members of the Venezuelan police on the premises of the local broadcaster. The son of the Director of La Guacamaya TV was also killed in the raid on the Director’s family home where the television studio was located.

UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, capacity building and a range of actions, notably in the framework of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

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