Latin America Coronavirus Update: Underfunded And Overcrowded Prisons Are Becoming The Centers Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Social distancing, quarantining, observing a hygienic lifestyle- these are perks that are not available to the hundreds living in dank and dire conditions of the prisons in Latin American countries. And even the riots of the inmates, demanding better protection from the pandemic, is not enough to save them from becoming the center of COVID-19 outbreak.

After two prisoners died from COVID-19 in a prison in Peru’s capital, Lima, the inmates led a riot as the feared that the less than hygienic conditions have sealed their fate as well. Nine people were killed and dozens were injured during the riot that took place in late April.

One of the hardest-hit prisons in Manaus, Brazil witnessed another riot after mass graves were dug for COVID-19 victims, leading to fears that wardens are bringing the coronavirus into the jail. Similar uprisings were observed in Mexico’s jails and in Columbian prisons which left 23 prisoners dead.

In these jails, authorities were unable to feed inmates well before the pandemic struck and family visits were their only source of food. But now even they have been banned.

“In prisons, like everywhere in Venezuela, there is hunger,” said Tamara Taraciuk, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director in the Americas. “It’s not that they don’t provide adequate food – it’s that they don’t provide food.”

In Venezuela, when the visits were banned by President Nicolás Maduro in light of the pandemic and the prisoners demonstrated against the injustice on May 1, troops opened fire on them. And even though, it has been confirmed that the prison’s director and five guards would be charged over the killings, this incident won’t be the last as overcrowded prisons with inmates striving for the most basic amenities even before the pandemic are fighting for survival now.

According to Alexandre Sales, a criminal lawyer in the Brazilian state of Ceará, prisons have turned into “powder kegs.” He shared that the cells build for just half a dozen men are being occupied by 30 or 35 men, with just two toothbrushes to be used by all of them.

“We already had an explosive situation here. COVID is just the spark that’s going to set the whole thing off,” warned Salles.

“When you have a pandemic like coronavirus in prisons like the ones we have in Latin America the risk of them becoming epicenters is huge,” Taraciuk said. “Adopting measures to deal with overcrowding and coronavirus in prisons is a public health measure that benefits not only the detainees but also people outside. And the number one measure to deal with this is reducing overcrowding.”