By Rachael Boothroyd - Venezuelanalysis.com, Mar 20th 2012
On Saturday evening it was reported that Karen Berendique, daughter of the Chilean Consul in Venezuela was killed and shot by police. This act of police brutality and malpractice highlights more than ever the need for a humanistic police force with respect for human rights throughout the country.
Australian born alternative media journalist now working for Venezuela Analysis, Tamara Pearson now considers this northern South American nation with a population of 29 million, home... communal councils, Chavez, oil, crime, and choosing Venezuela.
By Adriana Gregson and Akaida Libertad Orozco Díaz - Encontrarte, Feb 20th 2012
In this interview, Adriana Gregson talks about the pilot initiative which she set up at a young offenders' institute in Caracas. The project, which was set up with government funding, allows incarcerated youths to produce radio programmes with a political content for the community.
This past Monday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that his government would make reforming the country’s penal code a priority in the upcoming year.
Thousands of Venezuelans gathered outside the country's National Assembly (AN) on Saturday to hear President Chavez give his annual speech to the nation. Each year the Venezuelan president is obliged to give an "annual report" to the legislative body accounting for the management of his government and detailing its setbacks and achievements throughout the past year.
This past Wednesday, the Venezuelan government gave equipment to the National Bolivarian Police (PNB) in the barrio of Antímano, and announced the creation of a national Criminal Investigation Service. Formed in 2009, the PNB represents a new kind of policing in Venezuela and throughout the world, aimed at dealing with the problem of crime through prevention and community engagement.
“The crime rate has been reduced by 52 percent in the sectors where we have deployed the Bolivarian National Police and National Guard, while the homicide rate has been reduced by 7 percent. However, we have to recognize that rising crime is one of the biggest problems we face, and not just in Venezuela.”
We’ve seen in previous articles how political manipulation of the issue of security attempts to show an increase in murders as a specific factor of the Bolivarian revolution. However, we can see how violence has been dramatically increasing for a long time now, since the opposition of today was the government
On Thursday Venezuelans held the first of numerous public debates on the proposed Law of Firearms Control and Disarmament drafted by the country’s National Assembly.
State response to the current prison crisis in Venezuela has been based on a premise of respecting human rights and not engaging lethal violence, despite deadly force employed by some prisoner, argued the Venezuelan government.
