Massive military operation struggles to tame rowdy prison

Screenshot of an amateur video from the takeover operation of Rodeo II prison on June 20.

Thousands of Venezuelan National Guard troops have launched a largescale operation to retake control of the Rodeo prison complex outside the capital Caracas, after days of violence that had been sparked by a deadly gun battle between rival inmate gangs. Although most journalists have not been allowed near the prison, amateur videos have emerged that were apparently filmed at the heart of events.

Venezuela's severely overcrowded prisons suffer from chronic violence as rival gangs fight for control of cellblocks and the sale of weapons and drugs. Life in detention centres is controlled by a small group of inmates, known as ‘pranes’, who essentially run armed criminal gangs within the prison walls. According to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, more than 400 inmates were killed in jails across the country in 2010.

The latest bout of bloodshed, however, was shocking even by Venezuelan standards. On June 12, at least 19 people were killed (up to 30 by some accounts) when a gun battle ensued between rival gang leaders. Among the victims were nine evangelical pastors who reportedly tried to mediate in the conflict.

The incident sparked such a public outcry that the government was forced to take action. On June 17, 4,000 National Guard troops and army paratroopers were sent to storm the prison complex and disarm the gangs. The rebels have put up a fight, and although the Rodeo I block was taken over by authorities on Monday, parts of the Rodeo II block are still held by armed inmates. 2,500 inmates have been transferred to other detention centres, but an estimated 1,000 remain.

Authorities on Tuesday urged the rebellious inmates to put down their weapons and surrender, saying the government would continue to try to reach a peaceful agreement with inmate leaders.

National Guard storm prison building on June 20. The video, posted on YouTube by 2011LAREALIDAD appears to be shot from the viewpoint of a soldier. No-one at the National Guard was immediately available to comment on these amateur images. A spokeswoman said that the only authorised images from the Rodeo prison complex were shot by Venezolana de Television, the state television. FRANCE 24 sent links of these videos to the National Guard’s public relations department and requested an official comment, which we will be published upon receipt.

"There is a communications war between the inmates and the government"

Tomas Ramirez is a journalist and blogger in Caracas. He has closely followed developments at the Rodeo prison complex.

There is a communications war going on between the inmates and the government. The government says it is “rescuing” inmates who are held hostage by a small group of brutal “pranes”, and maintains that the operation is carried out with as little use of force as possible.

The National Guard have also showed an impressive array of weapons and drugs seized inside the Rodeo I block. It’s not just handguns the inmates have in there, there are AK47s and grenade launchers.

The prison gangs, meanwhile, have leaked videos of what they say are the bodies of victims of mortar attacks by the National Guard, calling the operation a “massacre”.

Screenshots from a video reportedly shot inside the Rodeo II prison block, showing two dead bodies stocked in refrigerators.

At the start of the video, the person filming shows a metal rod which he says is ammunition fired into the prison by National Guard tanks. He says that many of his ‘comrades’ have been killed by “mortar fire”, and as evidence opens two refrigerators containing bodies with head and chest injuries. Due to the gruesome nature of these images, we have chosen to show only selected screenshots.

The independent online news and opinion blog Reportero 24, one of the rare media to have published the video, quoted several family members who said that they had identified two of the bodies shown in the video as their relatives. There has been no official confirmation of this by authorities.

"The official body count is probably underestimated"

It’s worth noting that many of the inmates in these prisons have smartphones with cameras, and they regularly send information and videos to their family, and even to members of the press! The ‘pranes’ have a communication strategy, so you can’t take everything they say for granted.

From the outside, it’s hard to know what’s going on, because the National Guard hasn’t let journalists [other than that of the state television] anywhere near the prison building for days. On June 18, during the operation on Rodeo I, journalists were forcefully kept away with tear gas. To be frank, most mainstream media are reticent to report possible abuses by the National Guard because of government censorship [In Venezuela, a Media Responsibility Law allows the government to close down media who publish content it deems "journalistically irresponsible". On Wednesday, the national assembly said it would investigate any “biased coverage” of the events in the prison by opposition media.]

It is very hard to estimate the total number of deaths since the start of the National Guard operation. Even the Interior Ministry doesn’t know the total death toll [the government has officially reported three deaths – two troops and one inmate – in the takeover of Rodeo I prison on Friday, but Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami later acknowledged that he could not ascertain the number of dead in the Rodeo II complex given that troops have not yet been able to access all of the building. All I can say for sure is that the official body count is probably underestimated. For example, I spoke to the mother of a Rodeo I inmate who was injured during the evacuation operation. He was taken to the hospital, but she was not allowed to see him and he died shortly afterwards. He, for one, is not included in the official death toll of the Rodeo I operation.

“This disastrous situation is the result of the absence of prison governance policies by the Chavez administration”

This disastrous situation is the result of the absence of prison governance policies by the Chavez administration. For the past decade, the government has done absolutely nothing to regulate or improve the conditions of Venezuelan prisons. They are drastically overcrowded [the country’s 30 prisons are built to house 12,500 inmates, but hold an estimated 49,000 thousands, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory] and extremely dangerous. The president himself acknowledges that the entire justice and prison system is rife with corruption. The events of this past week show how completely out of control the situation is.”

A photo showing Rodeo prison ringleaders Francisco Ruiz Estanga (known as "el Yoifre", left) and Yorvis Lopez (known as "el Oriente", right) has been circulating on the Venezuelan web. It was reportedly taken during an alcohol-fuelled party in the prison in December. Posted on Twitpic by @LuisGraus15.

Post written with FRANCE 24 journalist Lorena Galliot.