After a deadly riot lasting more than 20 days, Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard regained control of the Cepra penitentiary in the western part of the Merida state.
Prisons Minister Iris Varela confirmed that early Saturday morning, following several weeks of negotiations, riot leaders surrendered to police forces who had moved into the prison’s facilities.
There were no fatalities in the operation.
The riot, provoked by opposition to the compulsory transfer of inmates to other jails, left 22 dead and more than 60 wounded.
Varela also noted that amidst the riots, a female visitor who had been kidnapped and detained, gave birth.
Venezuelan prisons have a history of security problems, violence and overcrowding. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says fights between rival gangs in Venezuelan prisons caused more than 500 deaths last year.
“There will be no longer armed inmates in the prison, we will not have a situation like that in Merida state again,” Varela told state TV channel Venezolana de Television.
