On Tuesday Venezuela's medical federation (FMV) said that the government should provide security in hospitals. The demand came after two people were killed at a medical center on Sunday.

According to EFE, FMV was responding to a shooting that took place Sunday at the University Hospital of Caracas. Unidentified shooters killed a patient who was getting surgery at the time to remove a different bullet. In addition, the shooters murdered the patient's brother, who was also at the hospital.

"We urge that the emergency room be kept open ... and of course the government ought to take responsibility for security inside all the hospitals in the country," Douglas Leon Natero, president of FMV, said at a press conference.

In response to the shooting, hospital personnel closed the emergency room in the hospital for 72 hours "in protest," EFE reports. The FMV condemned this decision.

"We of the medical federation reject that," Leon said. "We don't agree with closing any emergency service in any hospital in the country."

Leon also put fault on the Venezuelan government for the lack of safety provided to hospital employees.

"We blame the government for what the medical staff of these hospitals have to take," he continued.

Venezuela has seen an increasing amount of murders over the years. The government reported over 11,000 homicides in 2013, according to EFE. According to Associated Press, however, Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a non-government group who studies violent crimes in the country, estimated that there were 24,763 murders that year, making the homicide rate 79 per 100,000 habitants. In 2012, the homicide rate was 73 per 100,000 habitants. Both rates are a large increase from 1998, when the homicide rate was just 19. Last year, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro announced the stationing of soldiers in Venezuelan streets to help police officers when necessary.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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