CARACAS, Venezuela: A Venezuelan journalist said his car mysteriously burst into flames after repeated threats led him to resign as editor of a Web site critical of President Hugo Chavez.
Roger Santodomingo told reporters that his car was parked on a street in Caracas early Wednesday when he heard a small blast and found the vehicle burning.
"We heard the ruckus outside and the explosion," Santodomingo said in comments carried by the Venezuelan radio station Union Radio. "It began as something small in the engine. It wasn't a bomb."
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and were investigating.
Santodomingo resigned this week as editor of the Web site Noticiero Digital, citing threats.The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that Santodomingo became "the target of a smear campaign" and that he also received threats against his young son.
The Paris-based group said Santodomingo resigned after a message accusing him of being a "traitor to his country" was circulated at his son's school. It said that Santodomingo had received threats by phone and e-mail, including a message that his son "had been left on his own at school and could have problems crossing the road."
The group called for an investigation, and said "we also call on the authorities and those close to the government to put a stop to the smears and to rein in their more zealous militants."
The government did not immediately comment on the case.
