Overview
- Prisoners at the Barinas Judicial Detention Center occupied roof towers, set mattresses on fire and chanted for the removal of director Elvis Macuare Guerrero after alleging systematic abuse.
- Video shared by the Venezuelan Prison Observatory shows a man wounded by a bullet and inmates saying guards opened fire during the rooftop protest, claims that state authorities have not confirmed.
- A prison official told families that the 112 women held at the facility were evacuated and that judges and prosecutors would form a technical committee to review cases.
- Relatives who entered the prison grounds clashed with National Guard officers and reported hearing screams and explosions inside the facility.
- The incident builds on long‑running problems in Venezuela’s jails—overcrowding, food and medical shortages and reports of torture—and is likely to increase international human rights scrutiny and pressure on domestic prison reforms.