Police in Venezuela have regained control of a prison east of the capital, Caracas, after a stand-off that lasted for 27 days. More than 800 inmates have now given up their weapons and left the El Rodeo prison in minibuses. They are undergoing medical examinations and will be taken to two other prisons. The stand-off began after troops stormed the prison to put an end to violent clashes between rival groups. More than 25 people died in the mid-June clashes and in subsequent attempts to regain full control of the prison, in the town of Guatire. Venezuelan troops eventually took over a part of the jail known as El Rodeo 1, which accounted for some three-quarters of the inmates. But hundreds of armed prisoners remained in control of the other wing, El Rodeo 2. The authorities said about 60 inmates there were using guns to exert control over the other prisoners. Several attempts to negotiate with the leaders of the prison's two factions failed. Nearly a month after the first riots, the Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister, Tareck El Aissami, said some of the leaders of prison groups agreed to surrender. He said the inmates had been given guarantees that their human rights would be respected. "We've managed for all of them to come down to the patios," Mr El Aissami said. "We celebrate the triumph of peace, dialogue." A spokesperson for prisoners' relatives, Grisel Zorrilla, told the Associated Press news agency that the inmates showed signs of dehydration but were generally in good health. Hundreds of relatives remain outside the prison waiting for the latest information on the health and the likely destination of their family members. The government has announced that the 831 inmates who were evacuated from El Rodeo on Wednesday will be sent to two other jails, Yare 2 and Tocuyito. Venezuelan prisons are notoriously overcrowded and there has been a series of riots since the beginning of the year. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says nearly 500 people died in prison violence last year. Source: BBC