Church Worried Over Rising Violence In Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The leadership of Venezuela’s Roman Catholic Church is raising concerns over rampant violent crime.

The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference has urged the government of President Hugo Chavez to take action aimed at curbing the country’s rising murder rate.

The non-governmental group Venezuelan Violence Observatory says at least 19,336 Venezuelans were slain during the first 10 months of last year. That is a 9.8 percent increase from 2010, when 17,600 people were killed.

The estimates 57 homicides were committed for every 100,000 Venezuelans last year.