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ePaper created 2015-11-10, 17:27:36 | version 1.33.00
REDACTED Page 163 of 190 similar character and have caused great suffering and health injuries to the Venezuelan civilian populations including to particularly vulnerable civilians such as children and the elderly. i) Yanueliz Vaca On 26 February 2014, 20-year-old student nurse Yanueliz Vaca was shot and wounded by members of the security forces near her family home in La Fría municipality, Táchira State. According to Vaca, the security forces started to throw tear-gas grenades and fire rubber bullets at some demonstrators to disperse them. Although she was suffering from the effects of tear gas, she tried to take cover behind a parked car to protect herself from the bullets. While she was crouched there, she was shot in the shoulder. The wound resulted in a haemothorax (the rupture caused blood to flow into the space between the thorax and the lung) and two broken ribs. She was hospitalized for two weeks and almost a year later she was still in pain. The bullet wound still causes Yaneuliz pain. It has not been possible to remove the bullet, which remains lodged near her spine causing her intense back pain.717 ii) Rodrigo Pérez On March 7, 21 year-old Rodrigo Pérez was hit several times in his back and head with rubber pellets as he was running away from state police officials who had opened fire with rubber bullets at demonstrators in Puerto La Cruz (Anzoategui State). Pérez continued to be hit as he ran into a nearby mall's parking lot. Once he was able to hid in a store, he saw several security forces agents enter the mall's food court and fired at unarmed, fleeing civilians.718 iii) Anthony Gregorio Carrero On 19 March 2014, Anthony Gregorio Carrero was wounded on his way home from work. He was struck on the left-hand side of his chest by a bullet fired at close range, reportedly by an officer of the National Guard, as officers dispersed a protest by local residents in San Cristóbal, Táchira State. According to the medical report, Carrero required surgery for a gunshot wound; a bullet had pierced the left-hand side of his diaphragm. Anthony Carrero told Amnesty International that he was discharged prematurely, just five days after the operation, because medical personnel feared that he would be detained if he remained in hospital. 717 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. (2015) Venezuela: the Faces of Impunity. p.24 718 HRW (2014). Punished for Protesting: Rights Violations in Venezuela’s Streets, Detention Centers, and Justice System. p.8