San Pedro prison or El penal de San Pedro is the largest prison in La Paz, Bolivia. Inmates at San Pedro have jobs inside the community, buy or rent their accommodation, and often live with their families. The sale of cocaine base to visiting tourists gives those inside a significant income and an unusual amount of freedom within the prison walls.
About San Pedro prison in brief
San Pedro prison or El penal de San Pedro is the largest prison in La Paz, Bolivia. The prison was originally designed to hold 600 inmates and now holds nearly 3000 inmates. Inmates at San Pedro have jobs inside the community, buy or rent their accommodation, and often live with their families. The sale of cocaine base to visiting tourists gives those inside a significant income and an unusual amount of freedom within the prison walls. The wealthiest area, La Posta, provides inmates with private bathrooms, a kitchen, and cable television; such cells are sold for around 1,500-1,800 Bolivianos. Wealthier inmates can buy luxury cells that may include three floors and a hot tub. One inmate paid for a second floor extension to be built on his cell, giving him views across the city. Most of those inside the prison live in cramped conditions with it being common for single-room cells to accommodate five people. Almost all living sections contain market stalls and places to play games such as billiards, poker, chess, or, in some, video games. The canteen and restaurants are owned and run by the inmates, while other places sell ingredients for those with kitchens to cook for themselves. Each section operates like a small village or neighborhood, with its own courtyard, restaurants, markets, and services.
One of the larger open areas doubles as a small soccer pitch, with teams representing each sector regularly competing. Within the walls there is also a hotel for visiting guests, a hospital, and multiple churches. San Pedro prison is guarded by police officers rather than a hired civilian force as in many western countries. The reason for this disregard of prison conditions is rooted in a lack of authority. The penal system itself no control over what happens to the inmate. ” They don’t carefully control what the inmates do within the Prison because they have no legal authority to punish or reward their behavior.” ” “Those who staff the penal bureaucracy are merely custodians for the judicial system and they generally know it.’ ” The lower end communities are said to house the drug addicted inmates and are identified as the most dangerous at nighttime where most stabbings occur. Guards are commonly bribed by prisoners to assist in the trafficking of drugs in and out of the prison. Inmates who wish to be part of one of the committees include treasurer, discipline secretary, sports secretary, culture and education secretary, and health secretary. To be eligible for a position an inmate must have lived in the prison for more than six months.
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This page is based on the article San Pedro prison published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 20, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
