Boy, 16, is blinded in both eyes after he is shot in the face by police as chaos mounts over gas shortages in Maduro’s Venezuela
- WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Rufo Valendria, 16, had pellets fired into his eyes in Tariba, Venezuela on Monday
- Locals were protesting gas shortages which have plagued Maduro’s state
- Video shows a crackle of gunshots erupting out in the road as people flee
- Rufo was taken to hospital but surgeons said his eyes had to be removed
A 16-year-old has lost his eyesight after being shot in the face by officers at a protest over the lack of gasoline in President Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela.
A policeman reportedly fired pellets at Rufo Valendria as he protested in the town of Tariba, in the northwest of the country on Monday.
The boy was rushed to a local hospital where an ophthalmologist confirmed the pellets had totally destroyed his vision, Periodista reported.
Video footage showed a crowd of demonstrators out on the road before cracks of gunfire erupted and people fled the officers.
Blood pours from 16-year-old Rufo Valendria’s face after he was allegedly shot by an officer at a protest over gasoline shortages in the town of Tariba in the northwest of Venezuela on Monday
A crowd of people flee from officers stood in the road in Tariba, in Tachira state in northwest Venezuela on Monday
Defacto President Juan Guaido denounced the violence, saying: ‘We will not get used to it, we will not stop calling them murderers … nor will we get used to the sadistic act against the eyes of Rufo Chacón who also did not get used to living without gas in a country that had ample.’
Maduro’s attorney general Tarek William Saab said it was ‘regrettable’ and confirmed two officials Javier Useche Blanco and Henrry Ramirez Hernández had been detained by Táchira Police.
Saab also said the men would also be held responsible for injuries to Rufo’s 14-year-old brother, as another five people were wounded in the clash.
Dr Luiz Ramires confirmed Rufo’s eyeballs had been catastrophically wounded, saying yesterday: ‘The patient will be operated on in the next few hours to perform a surgical evisceration of both eyeballs.’
Citizens in the oil rich South American nation have been spending hours and in some cases days queued up to buy gas over in recent weeks as plummeting refinery output and stalled imports have added to the chaos of an economic collapse.
Last month 32-year-old Wilderman Paredes was shot dead by officers in Tabay at a gas station – around 150 miles from where Rufo was shot in the eyes.
Rufo was taken to hospital where Dr Luiz Ramires confirmed the damage to his eyes was so catastrophic they would have to be surgically removed
President Nicolas Maduro at a rally in April – he has blamed gasoline shortages on US sanctions
Defacto President Juan Guaido said the violence against Rufo was a ‘sadistic act’
Men began to argue as a large contingent of Bolivarian National Guardsmen rolled in to refuel their vehicles when the people were being told the gas station was out of service.
Parades was shot through the chest and died before arriving at hospital on June 9.
The country’s socialist economy and its once powerful oil industry have unravelled since crude prices collapsed in 2014, leaving a nation that once exported fuel unable to supply its own internal market.
As shortages worsened last month, soldiers began overseeing rationing of gasoline at service stations in several parts of the Venezuela.
The lack of gasoline along with the decay of electricity and telecommunications services has left a growing number of rural towns slipping into isolation and relying on barter exchange to get by.
Maduro blames the country’s problems on United States sanctions that have crimped oil export earnings and prevented his government from borrowing abroad.