Twenty-five people have been killed and dozens more wounded after inmates waged a gun battle inside the Yare I prison, Venezuelan officials said Monday.

The bloody conflict erupted during visiting hours leaving more than 1,000 visitors trapped inside the jail as opposing gang members exchanged shots. Twenty-five people were killed including at least one visitor, and 43 others injured.

Prisons Minister Iris Varela said that violence erupted on Sunday after a shot was fired during a discussion between inmates.

“We are taking all the necessary steps to avoid a repeat of such an incident, and we are proceeding with the disarming of the prison population,” said Varela in a press release.

Varela told state televisions that 17 of the 25 dead had been identified.

The armed inmates had taken control of the jail until Monday when Varela said the situation had been stabilised and authorities were talking with inmates in order to re-impose state control.

Outside the prison relatives of visitors and inmates crowded around the barrier weeping and waiting for news from inside the prison.

The battle at Yare I is one of the deadliest in a series of recent prison riots that have rocked the Venezuelan jail system and its overcrowded prisons. Yare I was built to house 750 inmates but currently holds more than 3,000 prisoners.

The inmates allegedly get weapons from corrupt prison guards and as a result prison scraps between opposing gang members quickly escalate into full blown gun fights.

The Venezuelan Prisons Observatory (OPV) claims 560 people were killed in Venezuelan prisons last year. However, the pace has increased this year with the current death toll at 304.

According to OPV Venezuela currently has 33 prisons with more than 50,000 inmates although the prisons are built to hold about 14,000.

Just last month another riot killed 22 people and left the jail at the mercy of gang leaders for 20 days. The violence at the Cepra penitentiary in Merida province forced the government to negotiate for weeks with the riot leaders until they finally surrendered.

Last year President Hugo Chavez created the Prisons Ministry after a deadly armed uprising at the prisons El Rodeo I and El Rodeo II, just outside Caracas. He also announced plans to build new prisons, improve conditions, and speed up trials for inmates who have not been sentenced.

Varela has said that of the 50,000 inmates 20,000 are undeserving of the jail time because of very minor infractions.

However, after Yare I, political opponent Henrique Capriles wrote on Twitter that the riot is evidence of the lack of improvement in jails calling it, “another big lie by the government.”

The prison system has become a big issue ahead of the national election that is set to take place on 7th October.

One person has died and 26 were injured after Wednesday’s clash between police and the Nasa indigenous tribe in Colombia’s southern province Cauca.

Claiming that the military presence attracts too much attention from FARC rebel forces, the indigenous group stormed the troops at a local base. The Nasa were met with tear gas and armoured vehicles by the riot police.

The riots began earlier this week when the president, Juan Manuel Santos, did not retract military forces from the base as requested by the Nasa. The Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca released a statement saying:

“We profoundly regret having to use force to restore our constitutional rights. This could have been avoided if the army heeded our request in due form and the government had ordered them to leave…”

The Toribio region in the Cauca province has been the centre of conflict between the government and FARC forces as the area is an alleged portal for drug trafficking. Since the military and rebel presences, dozens of indigenous people have died from being caught in the crossfire and one was killed at a checkpoint.

Still, the indigenous people are asking for all armed men from either side to be removed. As of last week, they also surrounded the FARC base and gave a two-week deadline to vacate the area.

Despite this and previous protests,Santosrefuses to remove troops from the area and said that he would only hold a meeting with Nasa representatives if they withdraw from the base.

“I don’t want to see a single indigenous person on our military bases; that’s the order,” Santos tweeted on Wednesday.

A march in the town of San Juan last night led to serious clashes with the police, during which a policeman was wounded and a protester burned down the local police station and vandalized offices of the Municipality.

The riots, which had begun at 9pm, led to the arrest of 16 people. Approximately 40 people broke away from the march and fought, first verbally then physically, with the police.

Mayor of Jáchal, Jorge Barifusa, and the police chief of San Juan, Miguel Gonzalez, stated that the march was carried out for Miguel Mateo Muñoz, a young man who went missing 13^th August 2011. He was last seen on his way to the hospital after staging a fight. According to the Mayor, his disappearance has touched the local community.