HomeNewsBriefVenezuela Plans to Compensate Victims, as Violence Rate Soars
BRIEF

Venezuela Plans to Compensate Victims, as Violence Rate Soars

VENEZUELA / 24 MAY 2012 BY HANNAH STONE EN

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has announced a new security plan that would compensate victims of serious violence, following the lead of Mexico and Colombia.

The president spoke about the security plan, "A Todo Vida Venezuela," on television on Tuesday, reports El Universal. One of its six key points is to set up a national system for attention to victims of "serious intentional violence," including a registry of victims and a compensation scheme for survivors.

This will be rolled out in 79 "priority" municipalities of the country's total 335, though the president did not reveal which.

The plan also aims, among other things, to "transform" the prison and criminal justice systems, and to set up alternative conflict resolution mechanisms.

InSight Crime Analysis

The plan follows similar schemes to compensate victims of violence in Mexico and in neighboring Colombia, though it appears that, unlike in these countries, Venezuela plans to pay out to victims of common crime. Colombia's Victims Law, which was passed in June 2011, covers victims of violence by parties to the country's civil conflict, namely·the state, guerrillas and paramilitary groups. In Mexico, a Victims Law which was recently approved by both houses of Congress will compensate only the victims of organized crime.

Venezuela does not have a civil conflict like Colombia, or organized criminal groups as powerful and established as those in Mexico. Much of its violence is due to street crime, though some is linked to the deep political divisions in the country, and the growth of paramilitary-style organizations in some neighborhoods, especially in the capital city of Caracas.

The country is, however, currently suffering a rate of killings far higher than in present-day Mexico, and comparable to that of Colombia at the beginning of the 2000s, when the conflict was more intense. Last year, Venezuela saw some 67 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to Mexico's rate of less than 20 and Colombia's of around 30.

It will be interesting to see which municipalities are included in Chavez's proposed compensation scheme. If, as seems likely, they are areas of the highest violence, this could mean they include crucial election battlegrounds in Caracas and other major cities. The scheme comes just five months before the most fiercely contested election in Chavez's 13 years in power, and polls show that insecurity is one of the biggest concerns for voters.

However, a scheme to register and compensate victims could do something to help change the culture of violence in Venezuela. In a recent report, the Venezuelan Observatory on Violence (OVV) compared the country to a war zone, saying that violence had been legitimized as a way to resolve conflicts, due in part to the government's confrontational rhetoric. The proposal to register victims and create a system dedicated to helping them could be a step towards overcoming this.

Image, above, shows photos of women who have lost their sons or daughters to violence, posted around Caracas as part of a scheme to raise awareness of the human cost of the high murder rate.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLECTIVOS / 20 DEC 2021

November regional elections brought changes to many powerful offices in regions where criminal organizations wield significant political power, highlighting the…

ELITES AND CRIME / 7 SEP 2021

A court in Cabo Verde has approved the extradition to the United States of Colombian businessman Álex Saab, who may…

ILLEGAL MINING / 17 MAY 2021

The escalating violence between security forces and a gang that formerly enjoyed official protection in Venezuela's foremost mining region shows…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…