Seven killed, dozens injured in Venezuelan prison fight

[News_Editor]

Seven killed, dozens injured in Venezuelan prison fight

2011-08-19 07:18:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

CARACAS, VENEZUELA (BNO NEWS) -- Seven inmates were killed on Wednesday and dozens more were injured when a fight broke out inside a prison in northwestern Venezuela, officials said on Thursday.

The fight broke out on Wednesday afternoon at a prison in Cabimas, which is located in Venezuela's northwestern state of Zulia. The incident occurred during the prison's visiting hours, said Zulia State Secretary of Security Odalis Caldera.

Prisoners used firearms, knives, and other sharpened and blunt objects during the 30-minute skirmish. According to prison workers, over 100 gunshots were heard during the fight during which some of the prisoners took visitors hostage, but local and state authorities entered and were able to negotiate their release around two hours later.

The violence also injured 37 other people, of which four were reported to be in a critical condition. Among the wounded were also eight visitors who were evacuated to Cabimas General Hospital.

The Cabimas prison was originally designed to hold a maximum of 120 inmates, but there are currently 619 prisoners within the facility, 500 percent of its capacity. Last month, a fight at the same prison resulted in the death of one inmate while 16 others were injured.

Venezuelan prisons have been facing difficult issues, including overcrowding, violence, and corruption. In July, President Hugo Chavez created a new ministry to help resolve the problems, the Penitentiary Service. According to official records, there are 34 prisons in Venezuela which hold 44,520 inmates, although their total capacity is estimated at 12,000.

Earlier this month, newly appointed Prisons Minister Iris Varela said it plans to solve the overcrowding of prisons by releasing at least 20,000 inmates, many of whom are in prison for committing minor crimes.

Varela argued that there are people who do not a pose danger to society, like those who are serving time for theft without violence. "They can pay for their crime outside prison," Varela told the local El Nacional newspaper earlier this month.

"Of the country's 50,000 prisoners, 20,000 should be out of jail, and rightly deserve to be out, they have the legal conditions," Varela added. She did not say how long the release would take or how she would handle the possession of weapons by inmates.

According to non-governmental organizations, more than 300 inmates died as a result of Venezuelan prison violence last year.

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