National Guard operation currently underway in El Rodeo prison

[Bacchus39]

looks like its a full scale military operation.

http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/p_contenido.php?q=nodo/215355/Sucesos/Jaua:-Intervención-militar-en-El-Rodeo-no-pretende-masacrar-a-los-reos

[naaman fletcher]

1. If only

Venezuela had a compassionate, progressive leader.

[Bacchus39]

2. it can't be easy ruling the colony from Cuba n/t

s

[Bacchus39]

3. troops launching tear gas at family members of prisoners outside the facility

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look at the pics. the family members look very anguished.

http://eluniversal.com/2011/06/17/gobierno-indica-que-siete-gn-han-sido-heridos.shtml

[joshcryer]

4. Those family members are "poco yankee gusanos".

Obviously.

[Bacchus39]

5. hearing some numbers from inside

government is reporting two dead soldiers and injuries to soldiers. nothing from the government on prisoners. here is an English article. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110618/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_prison_violence

extraofficial report on prisoner deaths `17 dead due to operation.


http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/06/17/muere-otro-gn-baleado-en-el-rodeo.shtml

Spanish

this will be interesting to follow.

p.s. I have no sympathy for murderers in prison. however, I assume there are numerous small time criminals too who are living in hell and the state has allowed these conditions to persist and worsen.

[joshcryer]

6. The state is very efficient at creating criminals (Venezuela particularly so)...

...and while I have no sympathy for most killers (those who are guilty) I've been to jail for my brothers who were idiots and it's a really sad and depressing place, especially the lines of "relatives" who are coming on visitation days. When I saw the original line of relatives sitting on the ground in the other pics I just reflected back to that.

Venezuela should get this under control and leave the family members out of it, they just want to see and know their loved ones are OK.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Attica, attica. Etc.

Wikipedia:

~snip~
The riotAt approximately 8:20 a.m. on Thursday, September 9, 1971, 5 Company lined up for roll-call. Hearing rumors that one of their companions was to remain in his cell and that he was to be tortured after being isolated for an incident involving an assault with a prison officer, a small group of 5 Company inmates protested that they too would be locked up and began walking back towards their cells. The remainder of 5 Company continued towards breakfast. As the protesting group walked past the isolated inmate, they were able to free him from his cell. They then rejoined the rest of 5 Company and proceeded on their way to breakfast. A short time later, when the command staff discovered what had occurred, they changed the usual scheduling of the prisoners. Instead of going to the yard after breakfast as they usually did, the prisoners realized they were being led back to their cells. Complaints led to anger when the correctional officer tried to calm the mob of prisoners. He was assaulted and the riot began.<2>

~snip~
The inmates quickly gained control of sections, D-yard, two tunnels and the central control room, Times Square. Inmates took 42 officers and civilians hostage and aired a list of grievances, demanding their needs be met before their surrender.<3> In a facility designed to hold 1,200 inmates and actually housing 2,225,<4> they felt that they had been illegally denied rights and conditions to which they were entitled, illustrated by such practices as being allowed only one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per person per month.<5>

~snip~
Retaking of the prison and retaliation
The mood among the inmates had turned ugly. It appeared as though Gov. Rockefeller remained opposed to the inmates demands and they had become restless. Defensive trenches had been dug, metal gates had been electrified, crude battlements were fashioned out of metal tables and dirt, gasoline was put in position to be lit in the event of conflict and the "Times Square" prison command center was fortified. The inmates brought four corrections officers to the top of the command center and threatened to slit their throats. Reporters in helicopters circling the prison reported that the hostages in D yard were also being prepared for execution. Gov. Rockefeller had ordered that the prison be retaken that day if negotiations failed. Situation commander Oswald, seeing the danger to the hostages, ordered that the prison be retaken by force. Of the decision, he later said "On a much smaller scale, I think I have some feeling now of how Truman must have felt when he decided to drop the A-bomb.".<8>

At 9:46 AM on Monday, September 13, 1971, tear gas was dropped into the yard and New York State Police troopers opened fire non-stop for two minutes into the smoke. Among the weapons used by the troopers were shotguns, which led to the wounding and killing of hostages and inmates who were not resisting.<9> Former prison officers were allowed to participate, a decision later called "inexcusable" by the commission established by Rockefeller to study the riot and the aftermath.<7> By the time the facility was retaken, 10 hostages and 29 inmates had been killed.

The final death toll from the riot also included the officer fatally injured at the start of the riot and 4 inmates who were subject to vigilante killings. Nine hostages died from gunfire by state troopers and soldiers.<3><4> The New York State Special Commission on Attica wrote, "With the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the State Police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War."<4>

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attica_Prison_riot

~~~~~
ATTICA:
An Anniversary of Death
by Bruce Jackson

~snip~
September 13 is the twenty-eighth anniversary of the infamous New York State Police slaughter of 39 men in Attica prison's D-yard. It is also the twenty-fifth anniversary of the prisoners' civil rights lawsuit filed because of State Police and prison officials' atrocities after the slaughter.

~snip~
Kill Everybody
The retaking action, planned and led by State Police Major John Monahan, began at 9:46 a.m, Monday, September 13, 1971. At that moment, Rockefeller was in his estate in Pocantico Hills and William Kirwin, head of the State Police, was in a motel on Lake George.

The State Police followed the plan they had developed before the hostages had been moved to the prison's catwalks, when the only people up there were convicts. That plan called for killing everyone on the catwalks. State Police photographs and videotapes show that the hostages were clearly visible up to the moment the attack began.

A National Guard helicopter dumped a huge quantity of CN and CS gas over the prison. It was powerful stuff. There was no resistance to the retaking force. As prisoners and hostages stumbled blindly or fell to the ground, state troopers, correction officers, deputy sheriffs, and park police opened fire with shotguns, pistols, Thompson submachine guns, and .270 caliber rifles loaded with dum-dum bullets. The correction officers, sheriffs, and park police were shooting without direction or authorization: they weren't even supposed to be there during the assault. The State Police sharpshooters on the cellblock roofs and some of the others were shooting blindly from as far as 175 yards away through thick clouds of gas.

More:
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~bjackson/attica.htm

~~~~~
New Mexico State Penitentiary riot

The New Mexico Penitentiary Riot, which took place on February 2 and 3, 1980, in the state's maximum security prison south of Santa Fe, was one of the most violent prison riots in the history of the American correctional system: 33 inmates died and more than 200 inmates were treated for injuries.<1> None of the 12 officers taken hostage were killed, but seven were treated for injuries caused by beatings and rapes.<2> This was the third major riot at the NM State Penitentiary, the first occurring on 19 July 1922<3> and the second on 15 June 1953.<4>

Author Roger Morris in The Devil's Butcher Shop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising (University of New Mexico Press, 1988) suggests the death toll may have been higher, as a number of bodies were incinerated or dismembered during the course of the mayhem.

~snip~
Causes
One side of cellblock 4, where isolated prisoners were held.The causes of the New Mexico Penitentiary riot are well documented. Author R. Morris wrote that "the riot was a predictable incident based on an assessment of prison conditions".<1>

Prison overcrowding and inferior prison services, common problems in many correctional facilities, were major causes of the disturbance.<1> On the night of the riot, there were 1,136 inmates in a prison designed for only 900.<5> Prisoners were not adequately separated. Many were housed in communal dormitories that were unsanitary and served poor-quality food.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_State_Penitentiary_riot

ETC., ETC.

Mexican prison riots' toll climbs to 21
Most died when police fired live rounds in what a rights official calls a 'massacre.'
September 19, 2008|Richard Marosi | Times Staff Writer

As the death toll mounted after two separate riots at a prison here, Baja California state authorities came under fierce criticism Thursday for allegedly brutal tactics used by police on inmates and the treatment of inmates' relatives who had gathered outside the prison.

At least 21 inmates died and dozens were injured in uprisings Sunday and Wednesday at La Mesa State Penitentiary, most after state and federal police officers stormed the prison firing heavy weapons, said police officials and witnesses.

Human rights groups and families of inmates expect the death toll to climb further, saying authorities had failed to give a full accounting of casualties. Many asked why police used live rounds instead of rubber bullets or other nonlethal weapons against inmates armed with rocks.

On Wednesday, authorities had denied that live ammunition was used; they said officers fired only rubber bullets.

The prison has seen several uprisings in recent years as state officials have been unable to improve overcrowded conditions and control guard brutality and corruption.

More:
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/19/world/fg-riot19

ETC.

[joshcryer]

8. Was Attica OK? I don't grasp the relevance of these OT links.

Attica was a tragedy, though I don't recall families being tear gassed, perhaps they didn't show up to support their loved ones. Reading the wiki article it appears NY took 27 years to recompense the families for the tragedy. Hopefully Chavez' government does it much sooner.

[naaman fletcher]

9. her point

as always, is that if the US has ever done anything bad, then Chavez gets a free pass when he does it.

[Bacchus39]

10. even threw in a Mexican prison riot for kicks n/t

s

[joshcryer]

11. That's disgusting, just because our country does something bad should not give others a pass.

We can all agree tyrannical behavior is bad.

[naaman fletcher]

12. apparently we cant all agree on that. nt