HomeNewsAnalysisCoronavirus Unrest Sparks Surge in Riots in Latin America’s Prisons
ANALYSIS

Coronavirus Unrest Sparks Surge in Riots in Latin America’s Prisons

COLOMBIA / 22 JUL 2020 BY SETH ROBBINS EN

Inmate uprisings have ripped through prisons in Latin America amid COVID-19 outbreaks, offering further evidence that the region’s prison systems are buckling under the pressure of the pandemic.

A survey of 18 countries found that 11 had recorded prisoner riots in recent months, according to a June report published by the Center for Latin American Insecurity and Violence in conjunction with the Latin American Society of Criminology. Six countries saw prisoners die amid the riots, according to the report.

Across the region prisoners demanded more visits with family members -- who often provide them food -- improved sanitary conditions to avoid contagion, and increased use of personal protective equipment by prison staff.

The countries surveyed included Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Belize, Paraguay, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Argentina, Guatemala, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Bolivia, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. A total of 27 prison systems were part of the study, as penitentiaries in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil were broken down to include state and federal systems.

SEE ALSO: In-Depth Coverage of Prisons

Fears of coronavirus' spread through prisons led many countries in the region to implement inmate release programs to ease overcrowding. Nearly 70 percent of the prison systems surveyed released prisoners, mostly those susceptible to complications from the disease and non-violent offenders, the report found.

Yet the releases were extremely limited. Five prison systems reduced their prison population by less than 1 percent, and another nine reduced theirs between one to five percent. Only three managed to achieve higher reductions: Paraguay released between 5 to 10 percent of its prisoners, and Chile and Nicaragua released up to 15 percent.

In comparison, Paraguay's prison system currently holds three times the amount of inmates it is equipped to secure, while Nicaragua has double, according to the report's findings.

The report also examined the toll that the coronavirus has had on prison staff, reporting that two out of three systems had personnel test positive for COVID-19.

Researchers warned of the further spread of COVID-19 within Latin America’s prisons, stating that "overpopulation will continue to grow," and that more inmates and prison staff are “likely to die.”

InSight Crime Analysis

Inmate riots will persist as long as reports of COVID-19 outbreaks among prisoners continue to mount in Latin American countries, where overcrowded and unsanitary jails are Petri dishes for the virus and prisoners have little recourse to demand protection.

A look at local news media reports of positive tests among prison populations shows that the virus has been found in jails in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Brazil. Others around the region are in all likelihood facing similar outbreaks.

The virus has spread even where officials have released prisoners to ease overcrowding -- a move that can’t possibly ameliorate years of jails being overloaded. In Argentina, inmates went on hunger strike and scaled prison walls to demand being allowed to serve their sentences at a home. The government's release of 800 prisoners, however, was criticized by victims' rights activists and sparked protests against the policy.

Other measures have helped to create a tinderbox. The deadliest riot occurred in May at the Los Llanos facility in Venezuela, when 50 prisoners were killed and 75 more injured after protests broke out over prisoners’ concerns about hunger. Visits by family members had been barred due to the pandemic, but the vast majority of prisoners in Venezuela depend on their loved ones for food and other essentials.

A lack of medical attention and sanitary supplies has also raised tensions among prisoners. According to the report, less than a third of 23 prison systems reported having the ability to test for the virus in the first two months of the outbreak.

In Colombia, the Villavicencio jail, south of Bogota, saw some 700 of its 1,800 prisoners test positive for coronavirus in early May. At that time, the jail counted only two health providers, a nurse and an assistant nurse, both of whom also contracted the virus, El Espectador reported. Colombia was one of the first countries in the region to see deadly rioting within its prisons as the virus spread in March.

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profile

In Peru, prisoners angered over the lack of protection and sanitary supplies rioted, setting mattresses ablaze. At that time in late April, more than 600 prisoners had contracted the virus and 13 had died from it, Reuters reported.

Brazil’s jails -- long run by powerful prison gangs like the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC) -- have seen prisoners break free and guards taken hostage.

Prison staff have also been sickened, exacerbating an already massive shortage of corrections officers in the region’s jails.

InSight Crime Co-director Steven Dudley wrote in a Foreign Affairs editorial that the neglect of basic healthcare, sanitation and nutritional needs within Latin America’s penitentiary systems has further empowered prison bosses and gangs during the pandemic -- making them increasingly seen by prisoners as the only source of help amid the spread of the virus.

Lacking basic protections, prisoners are bound to have their fears of contagion stoked by COVID-19 outbreaks -- and that fear alone is enough to spark a riot.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 23 MAY 2022

A reconfiguration of the groups that control micro-trafficking in Colombia’s capital city is responsible for the series of macabre homicides…

COLOMBIA / 4 JUL 2022

While the death of Iván Márquez is yet to be confirmed, his passing would mark a major turning point in…

COVID AND CRIME / 30 MAR 2021

The seizure in Mexico of COVID-19 vaccine smuggled aboard a private plane linked to a Honduran textile magnate marks the…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…