Entrenched


  • Photographer
    Adriana Loureiro Fernandez
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    2015

A 14 year-old boy got shot in the head by a police officer during anti-government protests and unleashing weeks of chaos in the city of San Cristobal, Venezuela. Hundreds of students entrenched in the University of Los Andes for nearly a month to demand justice. Days and nights went by with ongoing confrontations with law enforcement agencies in a space governed by hopeless struggle. The images are part of a series that comprises four nights alongside them documenting their feelings of loss, rage and powerlessness.

Story

Venezuela’s state of affairs regarding Human Rights has been pointed out for decades and it is only getting worse by the minute. The country has an impunity rate close to 97% and last year alone over 28.000 people died in a violent incident, which means only 840 of the cases got a proper trial in a court of justice. One of those thousands of losses was Kluivert Roa, a 14 year-old boy born in the city of San Cristobal, who was caught by police forces during an anti-government protest in February 2015 and was shot in the face, leaving him dead.

The murder spurred public outrage in the city and an escalade in protests and demonstrations which where mostly comprised by students and youth around the area. It was a strong believe among the people that the murder would go by unpunished and serve as an example for the consequences of protest but by then it was useless: they had lost fear, they had also lost hope, which made this situation that much volatile.

Students entrenched in one of the biggest universities of the city for nearly a month to demand justice for the boy which was, by extension a demand of justice for themselves, and it embedded a profound and hopeless scream that against the lost respect for human life. After a week, there were over 200 people in the university, days and nights went by with ongoing confrontations against law-enforcement agencies as well as pro-government armed civilian groups.

This is a photographic essay that outlines the daily life during the storm on Los Andes University, the violence and rage that flowed the atmosphere and, above all, it is an accompanying scream for the value of life, a last resort towards not giving up, not losing hope, against oblivion which is Humans Right’s worst enemy. It is also an exclamation mark on the weakening democracies in South America, so that we, as a world, fight back before it is too late.

What becomes of a person once they lose the fear of death? What is left to do when all hope is lost? What would you do in a place where your life becomes meaningless, worthless? Would you fight?

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