HomeNewsBriefVenezuelan Prison Minister Orders Suspension of Imprisonment
BRIEF

Venezuelan Prison Minister Orders Suspension of Imprisonment

PRISONS / 8 AUG 2011 BY GEOFFREY RAMSEY EN

The new Venezuelan Minister of Correctional Services, Iris Varela, has put a hold on the admission of inmates into prisons in the country, with the exception of "highly dangerous prisoners."

Varela, who made waves last week when she announced her ministry’s intentions to free 40 percent of Venezuela’s prison population, issued an order last Thursday suspending the admission of new inmates into prison by both the judicial branch and the country’s various police agencies until further notice, according to El Nacional.

Varela claims the move is necessary in order to cut down on overcrowding in Venezuela’s prison system, noting that there are many inmates who have been imprisoned for "three years awaiting a hearing for minor offenses."

El Nuevo Herald reports that last week, Supreme Court president Luisa Estella Morales announced that 2,000 prisoners had been released so far by the government, all in cases where the inmates had been sentenced to prison terms under five years.

As EFE reports, President Hugo Chavez has supported the policy, but requested that the minister lift the suspension in a month, remaining in place until “early September.” In the meantime, the president directed the minister to “coordinate alternatives with various centers and agencies” of the Venezuelan government.

So far it is not yet clear how the new directive will influence police work in the country, or what it will do to the country’s already soaring crime rate. El Universal cites anonymous police sources as being taken aback at the announcement, with one officer saying that they had been “put in a very difficult situation."

The Venezuelan murder rate stands at 47 per 100,000 people, making the country one of the most dangerous places in the world. With police and judges alike having been explicitly ordered not to send suspects to jail, criminal elements could be emboldened to take greater risks, which could potentially make the security situation in the country far worse than it already is.

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.

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

CHONEROS / 20 JUL 2023

The Choneros were once Ecuador's premier drug trafficking gang. InSight Crime documents their steady rise and their rapid fall.

COLOMBIA / 4 JUL 2022

While the death of Iván Márquez is yet to be confirmed, his passing would mark a major turning point in…

COLOMBIA / 10 JUL 2023

Iván Márquez, former guerrilla commander, has reportedly died in Venezuela, with his death likely having far-reaching consequences for Colombia’s “Total…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…