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.
By Juan Reardon – Venezuelanalysis.com , Jun 21st 2011
Five days into a deadly prison riot at one of Venezuela’s most notorious urban prisons, government officials today continued their efforts to bring the riot and kidnapping to a close through dialogue.
In this interview, TheRealNews.com's Paul Jay interviews Venezuelanalysis.com founder Gregory Wilpert on the recent release of a "Rule of Raw" report on crime and corruption in Venezuela. Wilpert calls into question the so-called "experts" cited by the report's authors as well as the selective use of sources in preparing said report. Wilpert also puts the report into a context of ongoing government efforts to overcome Venezuela's social, political, and economic ills.
Due to the work of the National Bolivarian Police (PNB), crime is down by 53% in Caracas, according to the Chief of Police. However, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticised the killing of three prisoners in a cell of the CICPC, Venezuelan’s crime investigation body.
