Venezuelans in once middle-class neighborhoods have turned to vigilante justice, punishing thieves caught stealing with brutal violence, and in some cases even death. The turmoil continues in the socialist country amidst currency controls and plummeting oil prices, resulting in a collapsed economy in which citizens are deprived of food and other essential items.
Overworked security forces laced with corruption have forced Venezuelans in the city of Valencia to take measures into their own hands, as mobs routinely attack intruders caught stealing in their neighborhoods.
Angry residents stripped and beat one man with fists, sticks and stones before dousing him with gasoline, according to reports.
“‘Kill him, give it to him,” shouted the mob in Valencia’s Kerdell residential block, which used to be a middle-class neighborhood but is now strewn with garbage and graffiti. The man was not burned and instead was taken into custody and placed in a hospital.
“The thieves are always after us. I don’t agree with lynchings, but what other options do we have?”
Those who try to stop the mob say the level of violence is too great to intervene. Sources estimate that there had been more than a dozen mob-led beatings or lynchings over the month of August, and at least 40 cases of lynchings in 2014.
The Venezuelan Observatory of Violence (OVV), a non-governmental organization, says the rise in mob violence is in response to “perceived helplessness in the face of crime.”
“Lynching is a collective catharsis. Everyone is guilty and no one is guilty,” said Roberto Briceno of the OVV.
The attacks aren’t limited to lower-income neighborhoods but are occurring in wealthy areas as well, as the country as a whole experiences social uprising during the economic turbulence.
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