Doing Time Inside San Pedro Prison For A Day
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2007
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102
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Trip End
Ongoing
La Paz,
Bolivia
Monday, March 31, 2008
Awhile ago I had read the book Marching Powder written by Australian Rusty Young who writes about his experience during a four month visit to the La Paz menīs prison. Because of this I was most interested in a visit to the prison but we had heard that they havenīt done tours there since the book was published in 2003, the Lonely Planet bible even says that there is not a chance.
Luckily for us, we arrived in La Paz and found that a small window of opportunity had been opened where it was possible to arrange a visit if we could get a call through to one of the inmateīs mobile phones. After some digging around at the hostel and talking to the right people we were able to secure a South African inmates number. We jumped at the chance to secure an appointment time to visit because we realized that conditions inside the prison could change at anytime. We were to take a young Canadian couple with us as we were advised by others to visit accompanied by a male, good advice. We were told to bring some cigarettes, chocolate and toiletries like deodorant and shampoo which is distributed to inmates not getting a cut of our entrance fee. This keeps everyone happy and allows the inmates to continue the entrepreneurial business of tourist visits.
copied images inside the prison
The inmates we paid are making a significant income and the visits give them an unusual amount of freedom within the prison walls. The children who live in the prison with their families also get a treat. The prisoners we spoke to are considering writing a book of their own giving their view of life inside the prison.San Pedro prison is the largest prison in Bolivia. It is renowned for being a society within itself, like a little town. From the outside the prison seems like any other building in the city. Significantly different from most correctional facilities, inmates at San Pedro have jobs inside the community, pay for or rent their accommodation, and often live with their families. Elected leaders enforce the laws of the community, with stabbings being commonplace.
We all arrived at the side gate a little nervous about what we were about to do. One of the inmates was waiting for us inside the gate and called out to us. A guard on the door desk shook his finger at us motioning that we could not come in. We had been advised that this may happen so we waited until another guard came from outside the prison and escorted us inside. We were patted down by a female guard, the contents of our bag of goodies was not checked. We walked through a metal detector that we are sure was there for decoration. We were asked if we had any cameras or mobile phones on us, these are not allowed in. Of course we didnīt take anything of value with us. We had been advised not to pay the guards any money.
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Next we met one of the inmates who immediately started us on a quick tour of the grounds, telling us his best prison humour as we went along. There was a surreal feeling of being here but it didnīt take us long to feel comfortable. Most of the inmates didnīt give us a second glance and all we met were friendly chaps. We were taken to visit a couple of different inmates rooms to talk and met a bodyguard. We are not sure if this guy was to be our bodyguard or for the guy escorting us. There were children playing a tiddley-winks leap frog game in the courtyard.The prison is divided into eight sectors with varying degrees of luxury, and cells are bought or rented for the duration of a prisoner's sentence. We only saw the better sector where there is more space and more foreigners. The wealthiest and apparently safer area provides inmates with private bathrooms, a kitchen, and cable television; such cells are sold for around US$15,000. One inmate paid for a second floor extension to be built on his cell, giving him views across the city. This guy is the king and we got a look in at his palace. However, most of those inside the prison in the sectors we didnīt see live in dark, cramped conditions with it being common for single-room cells to accommodate five people. We were happy not to see these areas. The brighter, wealthier areas contain market stalls, stores and places to play games such as billiards and draughts and basketball. The canteen and restaurants are owned and run by the inmates, while other places sell ingredients for those with kitchens to cook for themselves.
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One of the larger open areas doubles as a small football pitch, with teams representing each sector regularly competing. There is a definite hierarchy between the sectors.Aside from the 1,500 prisoners and the guards there are numerous others inside the prison walls. The wives and children of the inmates often stay inside the walls but are allowed to come and go as they please. Without the income of the husband they often cannot afford to live by themselves in the city. They will often provide an important link with the outside and can bring items into the prison that are sold on the market stalls or directly from cells. The 200 children are cared for in two nurseries inside the prison walls or are educated in nearby schools; they spend the rest of their time playing within the prison grounds.
Around 80% of the inmates are serving sentences for drug-related offences, and around 75% of the total prisoner population are awaiting trial. There are on average four deaths every month inside the prison from natural causes or from violent attacks. During the day things are fairly tranquillo but come night time misunderstandings are ironed out, robberies take place and prisoners fight with knives to solve problems. The police rarely enter the prison and there are no guards actually inside. The prisoners donīt wear uniforms. There are no curfews.
Unlike in many other countries inmates here have the right to vote in the Bolivian national elections. Political candidates visit the prison to try to increase their support inside the community.
the gate
There are several sources of income for the prisoners and those who run the establishment. Coca-Cola have an exclusivity deal whereby their products are advertised and sold inside the prison and rival brands are banned. In return they provide cash, tables, chairs, and umbrellas for the grounds. Most prisoners have jobs such as messengers, hairdressers, and shopkeepers, with many profiting from the tourist trade. There is also a gambling trade, with betting on the inter-section football matches being worth up to US$20,000 a year. Players are also sometimes bought and sold between teams. How bizarre this prison world is, almost unbelievable.Cocaine is produced inside the compound with large laboratories producing a significant amount of the drug while other inmates utilize crude processing systems in their own cells. Consequently the amount of drug use and addiction around the prison is very high. The cocaine is then trafficked outside, meaning that the prison is a large supplier of the drug. This is so ironic and doesnīt seem to make sense to us because all the prisoners we spoke to were in the prison for drug trafficking related offences. Alcohol is also widely available and its sale is an important source of income for some of those inside the prison. We shared a few scotches with the lads in their cells which seemed more likened a visit to a friendīs lounge room. Inside San Pedro prison the inmates have developed their own laws and rules. Each sector annually elects a delegate (leader) and a financial secretary. There is little tolerance for those who have committed crimes against women or children and they are strongly disciplined by other inmates. Many are killed, and those who survive must pay for the services of the prison hospital
Our hosts took quite a liking to us and didnīt want us to leave so we ended up staying for four hours chatting. In this time some more visitors arrived to meet the guys. A nice little business they have going on. We paid and tipped our hosts who will give a large cut to the guards for letting us in. With the rapid pace of word of mouth advertising between the travelling community we have predicted that these tours will not happen for long at all with more and more visitors turning up everyday. We felt blessed to have been allowed this glimpse in to a very peculiar community. We were glad we didnīt stay much longer because the guards lock the front gates in the late afternoon and you are in for the night. We decided that we were not quite ready for the whole uncensored prison experience.
Our visit to San Pedro was a truly surreal experience, unlikely to be repeated anywhere else. It would appear that there is nothing that the prisoners can not get within the prison and very few activities which prison authorities deem sufficiently inappropriate to halt. We left the prison feeling a little bit relieved to be out and leaving behind my new boyfriend and promises of bringing the guys some new bedsheets and tubes of Pringles spicy flavoured chips.
