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CARACAS, Venezuela – The dark halls inside Venezuela's La Planta prison are pocked withbullet holes, littered with hunks of concrete and reek from thesmell of garbage and raw sewage. Authorities led journalists through the prison more than two weeksafter inmates were moved out and the penitentiary was shut downfollowing a three-week uprising that pitted armed inmates againsttroops. It was a rare glimpse inside a Venezuelan prison that usedto be ruled by inmates, and activists say many others across thecountry remain effectively under the control of prisoners. Iris Varela, the government's prisons minister, said duringSunday's visit that the government has complete control of variousprisons. She mentioned seven prisons by name, but didn't discussthe situation in the country's other 26 prisons. Prisoner rights activist Carlos Nieto said that in many cases"those who control the prisons right now are the inmates." The situation became evident in La Planta when armed inmates seizedcontrol in late April, refusing to be transferred to otherpenitentiaries. The prisoners remained holed up inside resistingauthorities, and gunfire erupted repeatedly during the standoff. The three-week confrontation ended May 17 when officials reached adeal with leaders of the inmates after a day of gunfire that lefttear gas wafting over the prison. More than 1,600 inmatessubsequently came out and agreed to be transferred to otherprisons. Varela said officials have since found more than 100 guns and tensof thousands of bullets stashed inside the prison, often afterbreaking through walls or the floor to find the hiding places. One weapons cache was found in the floor in front of the pulpit ofone of the prison's Protestant chapels, said Wilmer Apostol,security director of the government's prisons ministry. The 3-meter (10-foot) deep storage space was filled with weapons,including a submachine gun and ammunition, Apostol told TheAssociated Press while leading visitors through the prison. Piles of trash were strewn about the halls, along with mangledremains of rebar and rubble. Walls and ceilings were blackened byfires that broke out during the violence. Prison unrest and crowding have become major problems for PresidentHugo Chavez's government. Violence is common inside Venezuela's prisons, where inmates oftenmanage to obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards.The watchdog group Venezuelan Prisons Observatory says about 560people died in Venezuelan prisons last year, up from 476 in 2010. During the latest violence at La Planta prison, one man who livednearby was hit by a stray bullet and died. Varela said five otherpeople were wounded during the shootouts, including two NationalGuard soldiers and three inmates. The government decided to shut down the prison saying that it wasovercrowded and that the conditions were below standards. La Planta was originally built to hold 350 inmates, but theVenezuelan Prisons Observatory said its population had recentlyswelled to 2,600. Now officials are hunting through its dingy passageways and cellslooking for more weapons and stashes of drugs. They say theysuspect they will find more contraband that inmates hid well. I am an expert from rexleds.com, while we provides the quality product, such as SMD LED Strip Light , China T8 LED Tube, LED Panel Light,and more.
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