TalCual: Criminals Take Over Hospital in Venezuela This is one more example of the control criminals have over the life of the country By TalCual Latin American Herald Tribune September 2, 2017
Moments of terror were felt at the Ruíz y Paez Hospital in Ciudad Bolívar, capital of Bolívar state, last Sunday between three and six in the morning. As reported by local daily El Nacional, during that time some criminals broke into this public health center in an attempt to finish off a few members of rival gangs being treated there, but they were also willing to take the lives of the medical staff on duty. The criminals carried firearms and bottles of rum and had no problem to enter the premises. It is worth keeping in mind that, at that same exact time, the country was carrying out military drills ordered by the commander-in-chief and "son" of the late "eternal" Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro, to deal with the threat of a military attack by the "American Empire" against Venezuela. We are not experts in the field, but a hospital should be a place under the control of the National Armed Forces (FAN) when carrying out their drills, because casualties that the invading forces may cause would ultimately be taken there, right? But, as we learned from El Nacional, the criminals took over the place for a while – three hours as a matter of fact – and were willing to apply the death penalty to anyone who dared to cross their path.
This is one more example of the control criminals have over the life of the country.
A control that has been allowed – and maybe endorsed, encouraged and tolerated – by the Government since 1999. A control that has been tightened virtually throughout the country. It is something that has been going on long before the threats of Donald Trump or sanctions that the U.S. government has imposed on the high-ranking members of the so-called Bolivarian revolution. It is one of the main concerns of Venezuelans who are afraid to go into the street because they know the risks of being robbed, kidnapped or killed.
The Government has implemented more than 20 security plans to – apparently – fight crime, but all of them have failed miserably.
El Nacional also reported that the police arrived at the scene at eight in the morning, two hours after the offenders took off. If that’s how they deal with ordinary criminals, just imagine if the U.S. Marines ever showed up on the Venezuelan coastline.
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