Other curious things about the Latin American prisons, which I initiated at Phil's thread "Prisons in France", but don't want to interrupt the subject of French prisons :

Some time ago we saw at the TV news a group of friends participating in a pleasant barbecue, all sitting around a wooden table, under a tree, in a large park, apparently a backyard of a residence, surrounded by plants and flowers. There were some small houses nearby, of the typical style of the popular houses in the Argentina's pampas, doors and windows open. They were not typical countrymen sharing a barbecue. Or yes. They were friends and relatives of Mr. Gullermo Luque, and Mr. Luque himself, who is doing a life sentence at a provincial prison. (Murder of a minor girl by forced overdose of drugs).

This was not "Dept. of Corrections" propaganda. It was purposely reported by the journalists, in order to show everybody how the life of prisoners was like in that place, on behalf of a harshening of the penalties, so we have to give them some credit.

This man, who is son of a former province representative and local political boss, will surely be on parole in no more than 20 years total. But his case is not unique. In the far south, in Patagonia, there are soccer matches among inmates and guards. And the inmates always win.

However, as I was saying in the other thread, this is one face of the problem. The other is the general corruption of guards and authorities, the absence of any official response. Everything is managed by internal maffias and the main rules are theirs. That famous phrase "who is not with us, is against us" is their main emblem.

Compared to the US system, which is worse ? I think both are bad, but I want my son in Coleman FL, under many restrictions but pretty safe - an opinion of an outsider...

Un abrazo,
Andrés

I just read today in the newspaper that a riot in a prison in Brazil has ended, and ONLY four people are dead!

YIKES!
Menolly

Yes, that was a mild riot, Menolly. In Brazil and Venezuela the conditions are even worse than in Argentina.

This is one of the main causes of my son's resentment against Argentina Laws which, because of the lack of a Prisoner Transfer Treaty with USA, do not allow his transfer to his country. He says that he doesn't fear anything about a local prison, but doesn't want to see the reality of the terrible conditions that he may find here. I even sent to him a long description of a Latin prison made by Human Rights Watch last year, and he didn't comment anything. I'm afraid that he feels that we are not pushing enough for his transfer, but it is a matter of LAW and we can't do anything more than insist with our petitions, which we have already made.

There is one reason very clear to me: his girlfriend who is Venezuelan, could easily obtain a visa to come to Buenos Aires to visit him, but has not obtained a visa for the US.Then we are in an uncomfortable position: we can't do anything for his transfer, and at the same time, we pray for his transfer to never be approved, for his own safety. It could seem that we will never do anything about this.In fact, we have understood that his will is first, so we will try for all means to cooperate and push petitions, but the Ministry of Justice, the Consulate, the Human Rights organizations and all attorneys say that his chances are zero.

We have only one alternative: to make a lot of money to visit him frequently and back his girlfriend's petition of visa. So, we work hard to obtain the green-paper-which-makes-the-whitemen-happy.

Un abrazo,
Andrés

Re-reading my post, a thought comes to my mind (sometimes it happens!): what would a native Algonkin wise Chief say about my efforts to make money to pay travel and expenses for us, so as our child does not feel so lonely ? Wouldn't he tell me that there are many boys and girls in our nation that feel very lonely because they don't have their parents, and they don't eat everyday ? Would he tell me that each dollar I take from the nation's product, even well earned, is a dollar less for those who have nothing ?

I know, I'll keep in my efforts, because he is my son, but this thought will hurt me forever. Great spirits aren't found just at the next corner.

Un abrazo,
Andrés