‘The devil is looking for gangs,’ Pope tells Bolivian prisoners
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — Pope Francis urged inmates at Bolivia’s notoriously violent Palmasola prison to not despair on Friday as he wrapped up his visit to Bolivia with a message of hope and solidarity for those caught up in Bolivia’s corruption-plagued criminal justice system.
Francis greeted the inmates one by one, clasping their hands and kissing their children, and then listened intently as a few prisoners told the stories of how they ended up at Palmasola. They spoke of their poverty and the “judicial terrorism” and abuse of power that lets the wealthy bribe their way to freedom while the poor languish in prison.
In his comments, Francis acknowledged the wretched conditions that the inmates face: overcrowding, the slow pace of justice, violence and few opportunities for education or rehabilitation. He said Bolivian institutions need to address those ills. But he urged the inmates not to despair and to not let their suffering lead to violence.
“Suffering and deprivation can make us selfish of heart and lead to confrontation, but we also have the capacity to make things an opportunity for genuine fraternity,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to help one another. The devil is looking for rivalry, division, gangs. Keep working to make progress.”
Francis also urged prison officials and guards to rehabilitate prisoners and not humiliate them.
Palmasola is the most notorious of Bolivia’s 32 prisons, built to detain some 800 people but housing 5,000, more than four in five still awaiting trial. Inmates have the run of the place, drugs are cheaper than on the street and money buys survival.
Two years ago, 36 people died in a fierce battle between rival gangs using machetes and homemade flamethrowers. One of the victims was a one-year-old.
Monsignor Jesus Juarez, who is in charge of pastoral care for Bolivia’s prison system, said it was a scandal that 84 per cent of inmates haven’t been tried and that prisons are 300 per cent beyond capacity.
“Here corruption rules and he who has money can live well while the rest suffer jammed into huts with dirt floors,” said Sirley Maria Vargas, the mother of a 21-year-old inmate accused of homicide. “With money you can have your own room, cleaning service, cable TV, air conditioning and Internet.”
Inmates pay $1,000 for the right to a cell and $300 a month for individual cells, she said. Cellphones can be bought, and food and drugs are routinely smuggled in.
Bolivia has a notoriously corrupt judiciary, with some 1,000 judges and 300 prosecutors under investigation or on trial for corruption.