Soap operas blamed for Venezuelan crime wave

The recent bloody murder of a Venezuelan beauty queen has prompted the South American country's leader to identify a culprit for the soaring crime rate: soap operas.

President Nicolas Maduro accused "telenovelas" of spreading "anti-values" that glamorise violence, drugs and crime in his recent state of the union speech, reports the Associated Press.

He particularly targeted the popular soap De Todas Maneras Rosa, also known by its international title Love Gone Crazy, which features a psychopathic former beauty queen who fatally poisons her own mother.

Television and anti-violence advocates rubbished Maduro's claims, arguing he is trying to distract from the real causes of crime while tightening government control on the media.

Pressure has mounted on authorities to crack down on violent crime after the January 6 murder of former Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her husband in front of their five-year-old daughter.

Armed men approached the family's car after it broke down on a highway then opened fire on the vehicle.

The United Nations ranks Venezuela's homicide rate as the fifth highest in the world.

Anti-violence groups have estimated that the homicide rate is as high at 79 deaths per 100,000 people, but the government – which hides official crime statistics – claims it's 39 per 100,000.

Australia's homicide rate is 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.

Maduro has previously pinned Venezuela's crime on video games and the idolisation of superheroes, particularly Spider-Man.