Editing Hugo Chávez (section)

====Prisons====
During Chávez's presidency, there were reports of prisoners having easy access to firearms, drugs, and alcohol. Carlos Nieto, head of Window to Freedom, alleged that heads of gangs acquire military weapons from the state, saying: "They have the types of weapons that can only be obtained by the country's armed forces. ... No one else has these." Use of internet and mobile phones were also commonplace, allowing criminals to take part in street crime while in prison. One prisoner explained how, "if the guards mess with us, we shoot them" and that he had "seen a man have his head cut off and people play [[association football|football]] with it".<ref>{{cite news|last=Gupta|first=Girish|title=In Venezuela's prisons, inmates are the wardens|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/120511/inside-violent-venezuelan-prison-la-planta|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=Global Post|date=14 May 2012}}</ref>

Edgardo Lander, a sociologist and professor at the Central University of Venezuela with a PhD in sociology from Harvard University, explained that Venezuelan prisons were "practically a school for criminals" since young inmates come out "trained and hardened" compared to before their incarceration. He also explained that prisons are controlled by gangs and that "very little has been done" to restrain their activities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jay|first=Paul|title=The Modern History of Venezuela, Why Still So Much Crime? – Edgardo Lander on Reality Asserts Itself (7/9)|url=http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11760|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=The Real News|date=19 April 2014|archive-date=20 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420034230/http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11760|url-status=dead}}</ref>