At least 29 inmates killed in clashes at Venezuela jail

The bloodshed incident occured at the police station jail in the town of Acarigua, in Portuguesa state, occurred when police special forces (FAES) tried to stop a "massive prison break" which resulted in the deaths of 29 inmates, according to Portuguesa public security secretary Oscar Valero.The prisoners received the officers with "a hail of gunfire" while detonating three grenades, which injured 19 police, Valero told reporters.The Una Ventana a la Libertad NGO, which defends prisoner rights, director Carlos Nieto said the clashes broke out when the FAES attempted to rescue visitors who had been taken hostage Thursday by the "pran" – the leader of the inmates – at the jail."This morning (authorities) sent the FAES and there was a clash. The detainees had weapons, they shot at the police. Apparently they also detonated two grenades," Nieto told press.The inmates’ leader, Wilfredo. The prisons ministry did not comment on the incident, saying police station jails are not under its control.A video shared on social media shows an inmate – believed to be Ramos – with his face partly covered while brandishing a pistol and what appears to be grenades, and threatening two women."It’s our lives (on the line) and those of the visitors here," he says, as a woman pleads for help, while warning the police to stay out because "I’m prepared to die."There are around 500 of them in the country, holding 55,000 people even though their total capacity is just 8,000, the NGO added.The Acarigua jail has capacity for 60 inmates but was holding 500, according to the police report.Venezuela has one of the worst records for prison violence in the region.In March 2018, 68 inmates died in a fire at a police jail in the northern city of Valencia.And in August 2017, a riot at a facility in the southern Amazonas state left 37 prisoners dead.More than 400 people are believed to have been killed in Venezuelan jails since 2011, while human rights organizations also say they face a lack of food and medicines – like much of the country – while the facilities are beset by corruption.