VENEZUELAN INMATES AT BARS AFTER RIVAL GANG FIGHT, 1997-08-28 (photo)

Prisoners at the El Dorado jail in southeastern Venezuela gesture to journalists following a savage fight between rival gangs that left 29 dead and 13 injured, August 28. The dead were hacked and stabbed to death with machetes and primitive knives wielded by gang members exacting revenge for the death of one of their leaders. Several of the victims were decapitated and others were dismembered. All the dead were relative newcomers to the jail, located in the heart of Venezuela's gold-rush territories. The El Dorado jail, on the outskirts of a small mining town named after the mythical South American city of gold, once housed the famous French criminal Henri Charrier, better known as Papillon, who escaped. Authorities prevented journalists from entering the prison to witness the gory scenes within. VENEZUELA JAIL