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.
Ten member of the Caracas-based Chacao police force were suspended on Wednesday after an investigation by Venezuela’s Ministry of the Interior and Justice linked the officers to a 2010 incident of police brutality.
Strengthening police presence and combating violent crime at both the regional and national level were the central topics of discussions taking place last Saturday during an extraordinary session of the Venezuelan government’s Federal Council in the capital city of Caracas.
Venezuelan authorities arrested eight Merida state police officers on Tuesday for their suspected involvement in the fatal shooting of student leader Yuban Ortega during a protest last week.
Police in Portuguesa state, Venezuela, forcibly evicted more than sixty landless farmers and three National Institute of Land (INTI) workers on Friday from a section of a privately owned estate that the INTI had marked for re-distribution.
