About twenty security plans have launched during the so-called Bolivarian revolution to try to stop violence in Venezuela without any of them having produced any favorable results for the well-being of the population.
By La Patilla
Oct 02, 2022
In the year 2021 alone, 11,081 people died as a result f violence in the national territory according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV), which is equal to 40.9 deaths per hundred thousand inhabitants, numbers that continue to place the country within the painful ranking of the most dangerous nations in the world so there’s no reason to celebrate the Day of Non-Violence this Sunday, October 2nd.
Programs such as the “Dispositivo Bicentenario de Seguridad” (Bicentennial Security Device), the “Mission a Toda Vida Venezuela” (Mission to All Life Venezuela), the “Patria Segura” (Safe Homeland) or the famous “Operation Liberación del Pueblo” (Operation Liberation of the People, OLP), failed to contain the criminals and armed groups that operate with impunity over most of the national territory, and have better and greater power weapons than the security forces themselves.
That is why citizen security continues to be a pending task for Chavismo, which acts unsuccessfully against the large criminal gangs that have even expanded to other countries in the American continent and increasingly recruit a greater number of people seeking to leave poverty on the fast track.
International organisms that go from the United Nations Organization (UN) to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have registered and denounced the high levels of violence that prevail in Venezuelan States, with Zulia, Bolívar, Aragua, Falcón and Lara leading this area, according to the OVV.
The criminal groups currently operate mostly in the border states managing the transit of people by “trochas” (illegal crossings, trails, footpaths), in addition to having access control of services such as food or health, as is the case in the Orinoco Mining Arc (AMO), a desired spot by both Chavistas and by other criminals.
“The groups have assumed government functions in some mining areas of Bolívar and Amazonas states in terms of medical assistance, provision of supplies and medicines, payment of medical and nursing personnel, hospitalization, among others. Obligations that would normally correspond to organisms that run healthcare in Venezuela, but have been left in the hands of those who have control of illegal mining as well as other illicit activities in those regions,” reads part of the latest report presented by the NGO “FundaRedes Environment Observatory”, of the EPA project entitled: «Irregular Armed Groups condition the right to health in the Orinoco Mining Arc».
Guárico Joins the Crime “Train”
Also appearing among the most dangerous regions in Venezuela is Guárico State, which presents a significant rise in its rates of violence. This deeply concerns its inhabitants as well as the NGOs that make life in the locality with the mega-gand “Tren del Llano” (Plains Train) driving the crime surge.
From negative leaders such as “El Picure”, through “El Malony”, “El Mandarria”, “Carlos Pirela”, “Keny Meza” or “Edgar Mariano”, most of them shot dead or on the run, they have “taken turns” in the leadership of the organization, which has expanded its cells to other Venezuelan states.
According to the “InSight Crime” website, its radius of action may have spread even to the Caribbean coast, after getting involved “in the transfer of drug shipments from the neighboring state of Apure.”
The portal assures that the mega-gang has been in the sights of the Maduro administration for several months, with the deployment of various operations for its dismantling, actions that would be in retaliation for meddling in the dirty business of the “rojo-rojitos” (red-reds, government acolytes).
“There are several theories about why the Tren del Llano was targeted by the regime, among which it is stated that the group participated in the theft of a shipment of drugs linked to the “Cartel de los Soles” (Military drug running operation). Other sources claim that the theft involved money earmarked for political campaigns in the state,” InSight Crime detailed.
Red Figures Keep Up in This Plains State
On the other hand, Adrián González, Regional Coordinator of the OVV in this plains state, explained that other armed groups have expanded over the Guarico State soil, affirming that even members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) or the National Liberation Army (ELN) ) have illicit businesses in the area.
“There are prison gangs and foreign groups like the ELN and the FARC. In Guárico, these groups are organized around illicit drug trafficking and illegal mining, which was stimulated by the entry into force of the AMO (Orinoco Mining Arc), constituting a tremendous temptation for the consolidation of these gangs. In 2016, the peace agreement in Colombia brought negative incidents to Venezuela, such as the dissident guerrillas. These groups have created a kind of criminal sovereignty, seeking to efficiently organize their economies and capture revenue,” he stated.
Regarding crime rates, Mr. González reported that despite the forced migration that Venezuela has experienced caused by the current complex humanitarian emergency, the numbers so far in 2022 remain negative (violent crime has increased).
He said that for several years there have been no figures from official security or law enforcement organisms in the security area, so the data obtained by monitoring different media in the region showed that only during the first semester there were 62 violent deaths, with the municipalities of José Tadeo Monagas, José Félix Ribas, Leonardo Infante and Pedro Zaraza as the most dangerous, which are precisely the ones with the greatest presence of the “Tren del Llano” mega-gang.
The OVV Guárico investigation team stated that 37 intentional homicides were verified; 18 deaths due to police intervention and 7 suicides (self-inflicted lethal violence) during the first six months of the current year.
For this reason, the expert made a call to the corresponding authorities to take actions that allow them to anticipate events and respond timely, particularly in the most affected communities and not only focus on historically dangerous areas.
“We recommend that state actors adopt approaches where coordination prevails, where there is the presence of prosecutors, courts, psychologists, that it be a multi pronged multi agency approach. No resources and efforts should be spared. We need development approaches that can anticipate and respond to future impacts of violence,” he pointed out.
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