More than 4,000 inmates at three Venezuelan jails on hunger strike

[naaman fletcher]

Agencies: More than 4,000 inmates at three Venezuelan jails began a hunger strike in protest against alleged brutality by guards, judicial delays and chronic overcrowding. The protest involves 32 of the 80 inmates at Tocuyito prison, some 3,000 in the Aragua penitentiary and another 1,137 at Vista Hermosa prison, the Caracas daily El Universal said. It began in Tocuyito, where inmates reported physical and psychological mistreatment by guards following the escape of an important criminal from the jail this week.

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Aragua's more than 3,000 prisoners joined the protest to complain about overcrowding, trial delays and the mistreatment they and their families receive from the guards, they said in a communique. In the document, the inmates said that this penitentiary was build to hold 600 people but now has 3,400, of whom only 350 have been tried and convicted.

Separately, the Caracas daily El Nacional said Friday that an inmate was stabbed to death Thursday and another 38 were injured in a mass riot that went on for four days at Uribana jail in the western state of Lara. The brawl consisted of knife fights among prisoners, the article said.

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