Génesis Carmona

Génesis Cristina Carmona Tovar (20 September 1991 – 19 February 2014) was a Venezuelan fashion model, beauty queen, and college student who was killed while protesting against the government of Venezuela during the 2014 Venezuelan protests. She later became a symbol of protest against the Nicolás Maduro government during the time of demonstrations in the country.

Career Born and educated in Carabobo, Carmona majored in Social Studies at Universidad Tecnológica del Centro, a local polytechnic located in Valencia's eastern satellite Alianza City, in the metropolitan capital region of the state of Carabobo in Venezuela.

She had initially participated in fashion events held in the city of Valencia, such as Venezuela Moda and Fashion Week Valencia. In 2010, she was a pre-candidate for Miss Venezuela 2010, though she did not qualify to participate in the pageant.

Death Protest

On 18 February 2014, Carmona participated in an anti-government demonstration. Protesters, dressed in white, planned to march down Cedeño Avenue to the Plaza de Toros. The march encountered military barricades and prevented the hundreds of demonstrators from advancing, with participants deciding to protest in the space in which they were confined. At 3:30pm, pro-government colectivos arrived on the scene and began to attack the protest with "ottles, stones and gunfire". As shots rang out, individuals scattered into Cedeño Mall, seeking shelter from bullets. including Carmona, who suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Witnesses described that she sunk to the ground after a bullet penetrated her left occipital skull area.

Carmona was then placed in the ICU. A day later on 19 February at 12:15 p.m, she died from "significant" brain damage due to gunshot trauma and loss of blood the following day. Physician Carlos Rosales explained that the bullet was still in Carmona's brain and that if she had survived, she would have been blind. Some foreign news sources said that pro-government paramilitaries were the ones who shot and killed her. Carmona's mother has also stated that the attackers were clearly identifiable in videos as Venezuelan government supporters and that Venezuelan authorities did "nothing" to clarify Carmona's death.

Some have blamed Francisco Ameliach for Carmona's death. Days before Carmona was killed, the governor of the state of Carabobo, Francisco Ameliach, called on Unidades de Batalla Bolívar-Chávez (Units of Battle Hugo Chávez, UBCh), in a tweet, asking UBCh to launch a rapid counterattack against protesters saying that the order would come from the President of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello. After Carmona's death, Venezuela's anti-government protesters placed posters in various areas of Valencia, condemning Ameliach's tweet and linked it to the killing of Carmona.

Venezuelan government's response

The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, expressed his condolences to Carmona's family and to the people who loved her. Minister of the Interior, Miguel Rodríguez Torres, reported that the bullet that killed her came from her own ranks during the anti-government march.

Only one PSUV member, Juan Maza, was placed on parole, having to report every 15 days.

The Universidad Tecnológica del Centro, where Carmona studied, declared three days of mourning and named the meeting room of the board of trustees and Superior of the university Génesis Carmona in her honor.