In case you missed it, there was a hostage crisis last week at the Bolivarian National Police HQ in Caracas. A group of inmates took two officers as a form of protest for the overcrowding and the endless delays in their judicial process. One of the inmates died during the riot. The standoff ended after some…
It has been three weeks since the start of the Uribana Prison crisis, and two since its sadly tragic conclusion. To this date, 48 inmates have died. There’s already a new warden in charge, along with 300 new guards. Until now, the official version remains the same: the inmates committed suicide by ingesting a combination of…
The latest official number of inmates killed by intoxication (combination of drugs and alcohol) earlier this week in Uribana Prison has reached 35, with another 20 in critical condition. But even if the state insists with pushing its version of the story, putting the blame on the inmates themselves, the Public Ministry formally asked for…
Of all the disasters Venezuelans currently face, crime is by far the most pressing. Yet for all its seriousness, how well do we understand the nature of the problem? If we are honest, are we ready to make the sacrifices necessary to defeat this threat? I’ve spent the past few days holed up in a…
Remember the tale of Tokio discotheque, located inside Tocorón Prison in Aragua? Well, the prison night-club has returned to the headlines: an 18-year old girl died of a possible overdose of drugs and alcohol after a weekend-long party in that club. Can I just repeat that this nightclub is… inside a prison?! Back in 2012,…
In the end, there was no final battle between Sabaneta Prison pran-in-chief “El Mocho Edwin” and State forces. Instead, all the remaining inmates were moved out over the weekend. “El Mocho” backed down on his earlier promise to stay inside Sabaneta no matter what. He was transferred in an armored vehicle to a military aircraft,…
Sabaneta Prison remains tense, even after a large number of inmates have been transferred to other prisons. Yesterday, the major pran of Sabaneta, “El Mocho Edwin”, made an appereance on the prison’s rooftop, asking for dialogue. Hours earlier, a member of the Prisons Ministry was “allowed” in to Sabaneta to negotiate directly with the pran himself.…
For the second time in a month, a serious spasm of violence convulsed Sabaneta Prison in Maracaibo. The toll this time: 16 people dead. At the center of the violence is a major pran (prison gang boss) who’s known as “El Mocho Edwin”, who took uncontested power of the prison recently. In a garish Syrian twist,…
The Economist posted this chart today about prison overcrowding around the world. Only Haiti and the Philippines have a higher rate of overcrowding than Venezuela. Also, the country’s data sheet from the International Centre for Prison Studies indicate that the total number of inmates in our penitenciary system doubled between 2008 and 2012. The consequences of…
Last December, Prisons Minister Iris Varela announced the future closing of Sabaneta Prison in Maracaibo. A new jail (currently under construction) outside the city would be its replacement. Everything was going according to plan, until a few days ago. Now, things have changed. The residents of the area where the new prison is being built…
Looks like the El Rodeo I’s month-old nightclub won’t the only one up and running in the Venezuelan prison system. According to El Nacional’s crime reporter Thabata Molina, this Good Thrusday will be the brand new opening of a night-club in San Antonio Prison (Margarita Island). For those looking to party but not cozy with…
Remember that nightclub in Tocorón Prison from last year? Well, it now has serious competition from a brand new place inside El Rodeo I in Guatire, just outside Caracas. It opened last month with a huge party including giant screens, a smoke machine, state-of the-art speakers and strippers. The pranes even have their own V.I.P. balcony.…
Just when you think you have heard everything about the Venezuelan prison system, Ultimas Noticias nos trae esta perlita… A young woman was leaving Yare II Prison last Sunday afternoon after finishing her visit and she was carrying a heavy suitcase. When a National Guard soldier tried to help her, he found out that a…
Prisons Minister Iris Varela admitted in an interview with Últimas Noticias that their staff have access to only seven of the thirty prisons active in Venezuela today. She also blamed last month’s events in Uribana to possible score-setting between “negative leaders” (pranes). So, what was the point then of having a dozen military tanks outside…
Sometimes the power of the pranes, the defacto rulers of Venezuelan prisons, is not confined to the walls of the jails. They want to impose their will outside and they’re not afraid of using violence to prove it. One businessman in Maracaibo found out this week after he refused to pay money to the pranes…
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