San Pedro Prison, La Paz

in all honesty i was very hungover... which is not a good start to going into this prison. it´s crazy. if you get a chance check out ´marching powder´ and i hear there´s a film coming out shortly with brad pitt.

bolivia is going through a bit of a crisis atm. evo´s support is starting to dip particularly in the eastern cities of sucre and santa cruz... cocaine is a hot topic but not the be all and end all, especially compared to the anti -americanism that is so strong at present.



the government does not recognize the prison as a tourist destination... you have to hang about outside the prison until a lady named mary approaches and takes you inside. it´s not cheap 250bvs (about 25 pounds). a guide (inmate) takes you on about a 2 hour tour of the poor side of the prison with bodyguards (3 guys in for murder). there are some very intense stories along the way, a cocaine factory, crack alley, football pitches, restaurants, and families making a living from everything.

San Pedro prison, the biggest in Bolivia's main city, La Paz, is home to about 1,500 inmates. once you pass the thick walls and the security gates, any resemblance to a normal jail disappears: there are children playing, market stalls, restaurants, hairdressers and even a hotel. it looks more like the streets of El Alto, Bolivia's poorest neighbourhood that sprawls on the outskirts of La Paz, than a prison.

earning a living - the prison is divided into eight sectors and facilities range from miserable to luxurious. there are no guards, no uniforms or metal bars on the cell windows. this relative freedom comes at a price: inmates have to pay for their cells, so most of them have to work inside the jail, selling groceries or working in the food stalls. others work as hairdressers, laundry staff, carpenters, shoe-shine boys or tv and radio repairmen.

'luxury' cells - "if you have money you can live like a king," an inmate told me. money can buy you accommodation in the "posh" sections of the prison - one of the best is Los Pinos. here, cells are spacious and have private bathrooms, kitchen and cable tv. Outside, they have billiard tables, kiosks selling fresh juice, and food stalls. cells cost between $1000US and $1500US and are bought for the duration of the sentence. in the poor areas of the prison, inmates have to share small cells.

prison children - about 200 children live here with their fathers. the younger ones go to one of the two nurseries inside the jail, while the older ones go to schools outside. their mothers are often in other jails or have abandoned them.

quite the experience. read the book guys - marching powder.