Attorney General deems it hard to solve the court lag in 14 years

Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz regards the court slowdown as an old story that comes back to previous governments. For her, solving the issue in 14 years is not easy.

"Unfortunately, under (the government of) President (Rafael) Caldera, a very fast exit was seen via Organic Code of Criminal Procedure," she contended.

She is certain that Minister of Penitentiary Affairs Iris Varela will succeed in solving inmates' problems. "Iris has lot of strength and works hard," the Attorney General said during an exclusive interview with pro-government journalist José Vicente Rangel aired on private TV channel Televén on Sunday.

As broken down by Ortega Díaz, in 2012, a total of 627,000 cases were filed at the Attorney General Office, with 1,550,000 solutions being provided by her office. She is positive that the Venezuelan people "are satisfied" with the performance of state agencies.

With regard to recent events at Uribana jail, she affirmed that the Attorney General provided support and appointed staff to undertake an investigation, in addition to coroners and other professionals to take care of the relatives of the casualties resulting from the riots.

Translated by Conchita Delgado