Employment Plan to Start in Venezuelan Jails
Venezuelan Minister of Prison Affairs, Iris Varela, announced that a program called “Llego La Chamba” (or Work Has Arrived, in Spanish) aimed at generating productive jobs for inmates in the country began Wednesday.
Varela explained the new plan will include training workshops in the areas of carpentry, baking and agricultural production in order to provide inmates with employable skills. She also highlighted other
initiatives developed in Venezuelan jails as a result of a diagnosis conducted about general problems among the imprisoned population, which concluded on December 2011.
On the basis of that study, Varela explained a new program was recently started geared towards reducing procedural delays and legal problems with prisoners’ cases, which also involves the Ministry of Interior and Justice and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
“We are addressing the situation in prisons very optimistically”, she added, also announcing another new plan focusing on repairing prison infrastructures with inmates as the working force. “It works to keep them working and fight idleness in prison centers. Right now, we are just starting to implement this program and already there are 695 inmates involved”, said Varela.
“In each region, one prison center was chosen for the first phase, so as to initiate the program. For the second, third and fourth stages we will be gradually joining in other centers, according to the plan”, Minister Varela detailed.