Without water, without soap, overcrowded: usually unsanitary, Latin American prisons are experiencing a resurgence of tension with the coronavirus pandemic, prompting the authorities to practice early releases to reduce pressure.
It is impossible, in establishments whose occupancy rates vary from 110% in Chile or Argentina to 350% in El Salvador or Honduras, to impose physical distancing measures between detainees to combat the spread of Covid-19. Under these conditions, cases of prisoners or contaminated guards are increasing. In some penitentiaries, visits were suspended, arousing the anger of the detainees.
Since the beginning of April, escapes, mutinies and riots have left around 80 dead among prisoners in the region, who are demanding improvements in their conditions of detention. The most serious incident took place in Venezuela on 1er may. A mutiny in Los Llanos de Guanare prison in Portuguesa state left 47 dead and 75 injured, according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP). Scheduled to accommodate 750 detainees, Los Llanos de Guanare prison accommodates 2,500.
"Dramatic parlor suspension"
The government favors the hypothesis of an attempt to flee prisoners who allegedly attacked the establishment's security posts. According to the OVP, they demanded to receive the food brought by their families, while the visitation rights had been suspended.
"In many prisons in the region, detainees receive nothing from the prison service, food, clothing or medicinesays Gustavo Fondevila, a professor at the Center for Economic Research and Education in Mexico and a specialist in the Latin American prison system. In some countries it is their families who provide them; the suspension of the visiting rooms is therefore dramatic for them. "
The first alarm went off in the region on March 16, in Brazil – where, as of May 15, the national penitentiary department listed 657 cases of Covid-19 among detainees and 26 dead. About 1,300 detainees have escaped from at least four prison units in the state of São Paulo – which alone hosts 240,000 prisoners – following a court decision suspending temporary outings for Easter.
Since then mutinies have broken out every week in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Bolivia or Mexico. On April 27, in Lima, the announcement of the death of the Covid-19 of two detainees led to a mutiny in Castro Castro prison, which houses 5,500 prisoners with a capacity of 1,140. Results: 9 dead and 67 injured. According to Peruvian authorities, the disease affected 645 prisoners and killed 30.
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