Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 28 March 2019

Uruguayans turn tough on crime to tackle growing violence

By LEONARDO HABERKORN increase in thefts and other
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay property crimes.
(AP) — Long famed for be- "That makes illegal markets
ing a peaceful haven in grow and ever more peo-
South America, Uruguay is ple are involved in them,"
experiencing what some he said. "There are more
analysts and international people robbing, which in-
organizations describe as creases the probability of
an "epidemic" of violence. a homicide. And it also in-
Homicides in Uruguay in- creases the people who
creased by 46 percent last settle their conflicts outside
year, reaching an official the law: The criminals kill
rate of 11.8 per 100,000 one another."
people. The figure is far be- He blamed the ruling Broad
low the alarming homicide Front party for failing to
rates, often fed by drug address rising violence as
wars and gang violence, a major problem, saying
in countries like Brazil, Co- it "clearly underestimated
lombia and Venezuela. But crime."
Uruguay's homicide rate is Officials at the Interior Min-
now higher than most South In this March 11, 2019 photo, Uruguayan Sen. Jorge Larranaga poses for a photo during an inter- istry in charge of security is-
American nations and is at view in Montevideo, Uruguay. sues declined to comment.
a record high for the small Associated Press Rising crime has been a
country of about 3.5 million weak point for the ruling
people. and murder of minors. It 100,000 people, respective- faced opposition from the party since it won power in
Many Uruguayans have would also give the mili- ly. But Uruguay's rate now is government and indiffer- 2005. Initially, the party re-
decided that drastic mea- tary a greater role in do- double that of neighboring ence from most other op- jected complaints, saying
sures are in order. In less mestic security by creating Argentina and triple that of position leaders. they were fed by sensation-
than a year, some 407,000 a 2,000-member national Chile. And some fear it will But the public was enthusi- alist press accounts.
people — about a sixth guard, eliminate probation only worsen. astic. With time, explanations
of eligible voters — have for serious crimes and allow Montevideo police chief "(They'd say) I won't vote shifted. Interior Minister
signed a formal petition night raids with the approv- Mario Layera told local for you, but I'll sign this," Eduardo Bonomi recently
calling for a referendum al of a judge. newspaper El Observador he said. "The people have said that homicides are
to implement tough poli- The government an- that the country was on had enough. They want it on the rise as a result of
cies against crime. It will be nounced this week that course to become as vio- to stop. Many signed be- turf wars among criminals,
held at the same time as Uruguay saw 414 homi- lent as El Salvador, which cause this is the strongest as well as 2017 changes in
the presidential election in cides last year, up from 283 has one of the world's high- stand against crime and a new criminal code that
October, amplifying crime in 2017. est homicide rates as a re- the government's security reduced the number of
as a campaign issue. Uruguay's figures are low sult of gang violence. policy." crimes for which offenders
The initiative seeks life im- when compared to coun- The referendum drive was Diego Sanjurjo, a political can be held in pre-trial de-
prisonment for crimes such tries like Mexico, Brazil and led by Sen. Jorge Larrana- scientist who specializes in tention and made it easier
as multiple murders, con- El Salvador, which have 27, ga, a member of the op- security issues, said the vio- to negotiate shorter sen-
tract killings and the rape 30 and 50 homicides per position National Party. It lence stems from a sharp tences via plea bargains.q

Blackouts persist in Venezuela; schools, businesses closed

A new disruption to the national blackouts in just a ation became increasingly
power grid left 91 percent few weeks. desperate for many Vene-
of the country offline, re- "These blackouts will contin- zuelans when water pumps
versing a "partial recovery" ue to happen," said Anais stopped working without
since the latest blackouts Marquina, a bakery owner. power. Looters ransacked
started on Monday, ac- "If you don't manage to get hundreds of businesses in
cording to Netblocks, a a generator, all merchan- the city of Maracaibo. The
group that monitors inter- dise is going to be lost." blackouts eased nearly a
net censorship. Marquina said commerce week later, but many areas
President Nicolas Maduro's was paralyzed because only had intermittent pow-
government said schools many people can't get to er even after the govern-
and state offices and indus- work or go home without a ment said the problem was
tries were closed Wednes- functioning subway or oth- solved.

Pedestrians walk past closed businesses in Caracas, Venezuela, day because of the outag- er public transport. Maduro accuses the United
Tuesday, March 26, 2019. es. Few shops in Caracas, On Wednesday, some States and the Venezuelan
Associated Press the capital, were open and people in Caracas headed opposition of sabotaging
many streets were clear of out with empty containers the country's decrepit pow-
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA tricity following the nation's the usual weekday traffic. to try to find water in the er system. U.S. officials and
Associated Press worst blackouts earlier this Electricity returned in some scattered neighborhoods opposition leader Juan
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) month. In Caracas, some areas, only to go off again, that had electricity, or at Guaido say the accusa-
— More power outages residents left their homes to frustrating residents who springs in the hills alongside tion is an attempt to divert
hit Venezuela on Wednes- search for water after their had little idea of how long the city. attention from the govern-
day as the government taps dried up because of they would have to en- After the last blackouts ment's mismanagement
struggled to restore elec- failing pumps. dure the second round of started on March 7, the situ- over many years.q