Venezuela’s deadly crackdown adding to homicide crisis

Killings by security forces rose by 50 percent last year, which is exacerbating the country’s violence epidemic.

The independent group Violence Observatory has reported that more than 10,000 people have been killed in crime-fighting operations in Venezuela in the past two years.

Police have been cracking down, particularly in the country’s poorest neighbourhoods – which used to be solid supporters of Hugo Chavez’s socialist revolution, but are now where Nicolas Maduro‘s government fears the spread of anti-government opposition.

The government has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that those killed are part of criminal gangs and resist government authorities.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Caracas.