Maduro says foreign media behind fears of epidemic
Maduro says foreign media behind fears of epidemic
Jorge Rueda Associated Press
Posted: 09/18/2014 06:17:28 PM MDT
Updated: 09/18/2014 06:17:28 PM MDT
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) President Nicolas Maduro accused CNN and other international media on Thursday of conspiring against his government by publishing what he called false reports of a mysterious illness.
The head of the college of physicians in the city of Maracay sounded an alarm last week after reporting that eight people had died of unknown causes hours after checking into a hospital with common symptoms including high fevers and blotches on their skin.
Authorities immediately accused the doctor of lying and said all causes of deaths had been determined. But that didn't stop some Venezuelans, especially government opponents, from taking to social media to denounce the outbreak as an unknown epidemic and even speculating that the Ebola virus that has killed hundreds in West Africa had arrived on South America's shores.
The health scare has since cooled, but Maduro said he won't tolerate any "psychological terror" from foreign media that he accuses of misreporting the deaths.
More:
http://www.dailycamera.com/nation-world-news/ci_26562199/maduro-says-foreign-media-behind-fears-epidemic