Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - The prison situation in Venezuela continues to be the focus of the general debate, this time it was the Catholic Church to ask the government for changes in the prison system. In the context of the opening of the fourth National Eucharistic Congress in Caracas, representatives of the Church expressed solidarity with the families of prisoners and the members of the National Guard, who died in the accidents of Rodeo (see Fides 18/6/2011). Only with the will to change the effective prison system the country will be able to solve this problem, said Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, indicating the only responsible for this tragic event, those who have allowed the arms trade in prisons.
Cardinal Urosa Savino asked the Catholic community to pray in order to contribute to a correct and peaceful solution to the crisis in the prisons and the authorities to provide more information about this delicate situation. "We are all amazed by the amount of arms and drug dealing that exists in prisons, and I wonder who are the responsible for this traffic of arms ... it is absurd that prisons are controlled by the prisoners", said the cardinal.
For the Archbishop of Caracas, there is another problem that aggravates the situation: the misinformation. Regarding this subject, he has requested more information especially for families of prisoners, and also requested that members of the National Guard respect the national constitution and human rights. He then asked the prisoners who have not yet put down their weapons inside the prison, to surrender peacefully. (EC) (Agenzia Fides 06/24/2011)
