2018 Photo Contest, World Press Photo of the Year

Venezuela Crisis

Photographer

Ronaldo Schemidt

Agence France Presse

03 May, 2017

José Víctor Salazar Balza (28) catches fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against President Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela.

President Maduro had announced plans to revise Venezuela’s democratic system by forming a constituent assembly to replace the opposition-led National Assembly, in effect consolidating legislative powers for himself. Opposition leaders called for mass protests to demand early presidential elections. Clashes between protesters and the Venezuelan national guard broke out on 3 May, with protesters (many of whom wore hoods, masks or gas masks) lighting fires and hurling stones. Salazar was set alight when the gas tank of a motorbike exploded. He survived the incident with first- and second-degree burns.

About the photographer

Ronaldo Schemidt

While he was studying anthropology in the Universidad Central of Venezuela, he decided to move to Mexico to study photography. In 2003, he started working in photojournalism in s...

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/800
Focal length
24.0 mm
F-Stop
7.1
ISO
400

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