Woman killed as Venezuelans vote in ‘referendum’
VENEZUELA: Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans lined up across the country and in expatriate communities around the world yesterday to vote in a symbolic rejection of President Nicolas Maduro’s plan to rewrite the constitution, a proposal that’s raising tensions in a nation battered by shortages and anti-government protests.
A 61-year-old woman was killed and four people wounded by gunfire that erupted after government supporters on motorcycles swarmed an opposition polling site in a church in the traditionally pro-government Catia neighbourhood of western Caracas.
The opposition mayor of the Caracas borough of Sucre, Carlos Ocariz, said pro-government paramilitary groups attacked voters outside the Our Lady of Carmen Church around 3pm.
The chief prosecutor’s office said Xiomara Soledad Scott, a nurse, had been killed and four others wounded in the incident.
Video posted to social media showed massive crowds outside the church, then hundreds of people running in panic outside the church as motorcycle-riding men zoomed past and shots rang out. Maduro made no mention of the incident in comments on state television shortly after the official close of opposition polls at 4pm, but he called for an end to violence that he blamed on the opposition.
‘‘I’m calling on the opposition to return to peace, to respect for the constitution, to sit and talk,’' Maduro said.
‘‘Let’s start a new round of talks, of dialogue for peace.’'
Later yesterday Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said on Twitter that he was declaring former Mexican President Vicente Fox persona non grata and banning him from the country for conspiring to promote violence and foreign intervention.
Fox travelled to Venezuela on Sunday with a group of Latin American former presidents to show support for the opposition referendum.
Moncada offered no evidence to support his accusations. - AP officer at the Alzheimer’s Association, a Chicago-based not-forprofit organisation, said that ‘‘each stressful situation amounts to about four years of cognitive ageing’’, pointing out these could happen at any time in life. ‘‘Things like death of a parent, abuse, loss of a job, loss of a home, so it’s a variety of different things that you imagine would be stressful. A change of school for some children could even be quite stressful. Brain health should be thought of as a life course issue, not just in later or mid-life. We have to start thinking about brain health at birth, if not before.’’
Exactly how stress damages the brain is not clear, but the tissue inflammation it is known to cause is thought to be the most likely explanation. Chronic inflammation can cause damage over time, while also perhaps making the brain more vulnerable to later illness. Depression could also contribute, as it is known to be linked to dementia.
Carol Routledge, director of research at the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘‘Our brains are incredibly intricate organs that show enormous resilience to keep us ticking every day. Stressful life events can turn our lives upside down for a time and though most people can eventually return to an even keel, we can’t be sure how psychological stress could impact the workings of the brain over time . . . There is a growing realisation that events and experiences throughout life can impact the brain decades later and researchers must take a whole life-span approach to understanding brain health in later life.’’
Doug Brown, of the Alzheimer’s Society research charity, said: ‘‘We know that prolonged stress can have an impact on our health, so it’s no surprise that this study indicates stressful life events may also affect our memory and thinking abilities later in life. However, it remains to be established whether these stressful life events can lead to an increased risk of dementia.’’ - The Times