23 inmates die in riots over virus fears

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA » At least 23 inmates died in clashes with prison authorities over the weekend after what prisoners described as protests against officials for not doing enough to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The protests erupted in 13 penitentiaries across Colombia. The deadly clashes were in La Modelo prison in the capital, Bogotá, and officials described the riots as an effort by inmates to escape.

The justice minister, Margarita Cabello, said in a video address Sunday morning that the riots were part of a “massive and criminal escape attempt” that authorities had thwarted, and that there was “no sanitation problem” in the prison. She said at least 23 people had died.

The riots are among several violent confrontation in Latin American prisons since the arrival of coronavirus in the region.

Worries are growing around the world about the risks faced by inmates and workers in prisons, where close quarters and strained medical operations can put people at a higher risk of infection. An inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, tested positive Saturday for the coronavirus, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons. It is the first known case involving an inmate in the U.S. federal prison system.

On Sunday morning, Colombia’s health ministry said the country had 231 confirmed cases of coronavirus, resulting in two deaths. There were no cases of coronavirus at La Modelo, according to the justice ministry.

Speaking on a cellphone inside another Bogotá prison, La Picota, Oscar Sanchez, 42, an inmate, called the clashes “a massacre that until now has taken more lives than coronavirus in Colombia.”

“We are trying to launch an SOS,” Sanchez said.