Hundreds of Inmates Seize Venezuelan Prison Amid Widespread Rebellion

In a large-scale uprising, hundreds of prisoners took control of a jail in western Venezuela, protesting against what they described as torture and calling for the dismissal of the prison director. Protesters displayed signs reading "Save us" and "They are torturing us."

Thick smoke rose from the prison in the city of Barinas as inmates set fire to blankets. Groups of prisoners gathered on the roof chanting, "Stop the torture! Stop the torture!"

Riot control forces surrounded the Barinas judicial detention center, located approximately 500 kilometers from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

Dozens of relatives of the inmates gathered nearby, visibly worried. Family members reported that several prisoners had sustained injuries during the unrest.

Yelitza Arollo, who was outside the prison during the rebellion, said she had not heard from her son, who is detained in Barinas, since May 8. She stated, "They beat them severely and torture them. They pour cold water on them. They shock them with electricity. They set them on fire. They mistreat them badly. We want the director removed."

The Venezuelan Prison Observatory, a human rights organization, posted on social media that about 1,200 men and more than 100 women detained in Barinas had started a strike.

The observatory added that the ministry responsible for prison management "ignores prisoners who have been denouncing mistreatment for over a week. No one listens to them; on the contrary, they are shot at and subjected to tear gas."

Activists have criticized Venezuelan prisons for years over severe overcrowding, food shortages, lack of medical care, and systematic human rights violations.

In April, the government confirmed the deaths of five people during riots at the high-security Yare III prison, located about 70 kilometers from Caracas.

In 2023, then-President Nicolás Maduro ordered a military operation to intervene in the country’s main prisons, which had been controlled by gangs for years.

Venezuela recently released political activists from the notorious El Helicoide prison.