• daniel brown
  • BBC World, Caracas

image source, BBC World Service

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The governor of Aragua says that false photos of the disease on social networks seek to «distress Venezuelans.»

The information released Thursday that eight people appeared in a matter of 72 hours for a «mysterious illness» at the Central Hospital of Maracay (HCM), in the center of the country, triggered a wave of interpretations that has Venezuelans arguing ever since. .

On Sunday two similar people appeared in conditions to the previous ones, according to information from their relatives and doctors; one in the same hospital in the capital of the state of Aragua and the other in the Luis Razetti Clinic in Caracas.

The government has not ruled on these last two deaths, but regarding the previous ones it denied the existence of «a mysterious disease» and described the information as a «media campaign against Venezuela.»

The governor of Aragua state, Tareck al Aissami, and the Minister of Communications, Delcy Rodríguez, refer to the versions as a «defamatory» strategy to «distress the population.»