Nine prisoners and two guards have been killed during a riot in a prison in the western Venezuelan state of Lara, in the country's second prison riot within a week.
The latest riot, at the Fenix prison, took place on Thursday and is now under control. It will be investigated by the prosecutor's office, Prisons Minister Iris Varela told reporters.
The incident came a day after a clash between inmates at the Helicoide prison complex in Caracas, where several prominent opponents of President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government are held. No one died in that incident.
Varela added that Joshua Holt, a US citizen and Mormon missionary who is jailed in the Helicoide and pleaded for help on social media during that incident, was still incarcerated. The Helicoide revolt prompted the US government to call for his release.
Prisons in Venezuela are awash with weapons and drugs, and violence inside pre-dates the current economic crisis.
Nearly one million Venezuelans left the country between 2015 and 2017, according to the United Nations, amid rampant inflation, insecurity as well as food and medicine shortages.
