Caracas Chronicles

This weekend, three major violent incidents around the country left a total of 17 deaths: eight at a graduation party in Caicara del Orinoco, five during a birthday party in Valle de la Pascua and four in Western Maracaibo.

But Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres insists that crime has been reduced 30%, thanks to the “Patria Segura” plan.

Of course, he’s following the recently established tradition of previous Interior Ministers by saying these kinds of statements without releasing any official data to back it up. And for those who dare to criticize him and his plan (like NGO Control Ciudadano’s Rocío San Miguel), he uses the devastatingly original “CIA operative” card to try discredit them.

Meanwhile, Rodríguez Torres keeps silence over last week’s attempt by several colectivos (armed groups) to liberate one of their own from a Bolivarian Police station in Catia (in the west side of Caracas). After all, colectivos harrassing the police in that part of the capital is the new normal.