Olympics-Fencing-Benitez stays en garde to fight for favelas

Aug 2 (Reuters) - Venezuelan fencer Alejandra Benitez balances the demands of her sport with her charity work in the favelas of Caracas and a career in politics, yet the 36-year-old has no intention of slowing down after this month's Rio Olympics. The sabre specialist and former Venezuela sports minister is instead determined to inspire the next generation of fencers through her work with the underprivileged in the violent shanty towns of the country's capital. "My first home was in Caracas's favelas," Benitez, who is making her fourth consecutive appearance at an Olympics, told reporters in Rio. "My work in Venezuela is based right there. For me it's neither dangerous nor complicated, I work the whole time in Venezuelan favelas and there are no problems if I help people. "My foundation promotes our sport as we organise fencing exhibitions for the kids of the favelas... We also bring clothes and food. "The sport is always good for the kids and the people who live in those conditions. I want them to look at all the good life that fencing can bring them." The 2015 Pan American championship silver medallist, whose fencing career has spanned more than two decades, said she could not contemplate abandoning her sport, despite being urged to do so by the people around her. "Everyone tells me that I'm old, that I'm already 36 and I should retire from fencing, but I don't feel old and I want to go on competing," she added. "I've been 21 years in the world of fencing competitions but I haven't had enough yet." Benitez, who served as Venezuela's first-ever female sports minister under President Nicolas Maduro in 2013, indicated she would also like to stay involved in politics and keep fighting for the less fortunate members of her community. "I always liked politics because there is even more combat than fencing," she said. "I had been for five years a deputy of the Venezuelan congress, the National Assembly, and I worked on changing the law of sports in Venezuela. After this, Maduro called me to be the minister of sport. "Even before getting into politics I had always tried to help my community and the children of Caracas, and the persons who are detained in prison." (Reporting by Ian Rodricks in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)