San Pedro Prison (El penal de San Pedro) in La Paz is talked about a lot by backpackers I've met in south and central america. It received fame due to the book 'Marching Power' by Rusty Young. Marching Powder describes the experiences of a British Inmate Thomas McFadden. The book will soon become a movie with the rights now owned by Brad Pitt's production company.
From the outside San Pedro maybe look like a regular prison but it has some characteristics that make it very different and far more interesting than regular prisons. San Pedro prison contains a society based on self-governance. The primary job of the prison guards is to keep inmates inside the prison. The guards do no maintain order inside the prison nor do they enter it expect on rare occasions. The inmates are allowed to trade within the prison, for example they can open restaurants, workshops, shops, hairdressers. A property market also exists with prisoners having to buy or rent their accommodation. Some prisoners even have their families live with them inside the prison.
I have yet to read 'Marching Power' but there is lots of information available on wikipedia, travel blogs and guidebooks concerning the prison and how it operates. For example according to wikipedia Coca-Cola has exclusivity deal whereby their products are advertised and sold inside the prison and rival brands are banned. In return Coca-Cola provides cash, tables, chairs and umbrellas for the grounds of the prison. The reason for all of this information for tourists is because another method the prisoners have of making income is by providing tours of the prison for foreigners. Tours are illegal and prohibited by the prison officials yet there the tours have been offered for years hence being mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide for South America. Supposedly some Australian backpackers have been caught leaving the prison with cocaine and they got deported. This is another way the prisoners make money by selling cocaine. As a result of the Australian deportations there is a clampdown on prison tours so we weren't too hopeful about getting in but we decided to try. The tours are illegal so you have to get smuggled in and pay bribes along the way. To start with we asked at our hotel how we could get to the prison, after a short lecture on how it was illegal and we could get deported they explained how to get there and told us not to take any valuables. It was walking distance from our hotel, located right in the center of La Paz. We weren't so worried about getting deported for entering the prison as we were both leaving in two days.
We'd heard that the best time to get a tour was early in the morning but we ignored this and arrived in the early afternoon. We took a walk around the outside of the prison and then sat in the park watching entrance. There was a big queue outside the prison and quite a few police so I wasn't hopeful about getting in. Anna suggested that we just join the queue of locals and try get in that way but I talked her out of it convincing her that it would work. Surprisingly later that day Anna found a blog post by some guy explaining how he queued with the families of the inmates and then told the prison guard he was there to see Juan (a common name in Latin America) and he was allowed in. I can't find the blog post anymore so no link to it. It turns out I was wrong about joining the queue but maybe it was for the best. Soon after we sat in the park about 50 police arrived in full riot gear and entered the prison. At this stage the queue disappeared with people crowding around the entrance. About a half hour later the riot police emerged and the queue reformed. We've know idea what happened possibly there were doing the daily role call for the imates or maybe there was something else happen. At this point it was late afternoon so we decided to call it a day and try again the following morning.
Once again we didn't manage to get there in the early morning instead early afternoon. This time there was a vehicle outside which was obviously being used to transport inmates. We walked around and took some photos then we heard the police calling us. We waited and one approached, we chatted in Spanish, he said we couldn't take photos, Anna asked why and argued that it was a street and there shouldn't be a problem. He explained that it was a problem and we had to delete them. He was friendly and seemed somewhat amused by Anna's questions and our Spanish. At this point we realised the chances of a tour were pretty slim with all the police around so we retreated to the park. We saw another group of tourists take some photos but they ignored the police and walked off. They were immediately surrounded by police and had their cameras briefly confiscated.
Talking was obviously the best choice. As soon as we sat down we were approached by "New York Dave". We'd read about him in Lonely Planet and also on various peoples travel blogs. He also goes by the name "New York Nick". After reading so much about him it was interesting to get to meet him and have him attempt to scam us. Thats his deal, he scams tourists by offering them tours of the prison. He told us some of the history of the prison, told us how he was on work release and that prison tours were now legal. It was fairly obvious it was a scam as he backtracked lots of times and frequently contradicted himself but we still it was interesting to hear him tell how he'd be released in 2 weeks when you've read blog posts from last year from people who met him then and he said he was being released in 2 weeks. I never considered getting a photo of him but Juergen from Bolivia for 21 days have kindly allowed me use their photo in my blog.
I can see how Dave cons people with his prison tour scam. He says he'll take you to the police station and there you pay 7 Bolivianos for the documentation and then you go to a side entrance of the prison and pay a bribe for the guards. (contradicting himself here as he's already said that they are legal and his work-release job is to find tourists!). Even if you think it is a scam I can see how some people would be tempted to try it just incase it isn't as it is not an enormous amount of money but I'm sure thats part of the scam. I don't know what happens when you go to the police station but I expect you end up handing over more than 7 Bolivianos when you go to a police station asking for the documentation to get you illegally smuggled into a prison. We declined Dave's offer and as it was late afternoon concluded that we weren't going to enter San Pedro prison on this trip. We never made it into the prison but it was fun attempting to do so. Maybe next time...
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| San Pedro Prison La Paz |
From the outside San Pedro maybe look like a regular prison but it has some characteristics that make it very different and far more interesting than regular prisons. San Pedro prison contains a society based on self-governance. The primary job of the prison guards is to keep inmates inside the prison. The guards do no maintain order inside the prison nor do they enter it expect on rare occasions. The inmates are allowed to trade within the prison, for example they can open restaurants, workshops, shops, hairdressers. A property market also exists with prisoners having to buy or rent their accommodation. Some prisoners even have their families live with them inside the prison.
I have yet to read 'Marching Power' but there is lots of information available on wikipedia, travel blogs and guidebooks concerning the prison and how it operates. For example according to wikipedia Coca-Cola has exclusivity deal whereby their products are advertised and sold inside the prison and rival brands are banned. In return Coca-Cola provides cash, tables, chairs and umbrellas for the grounds of the prison. The reason for all of this information for tourists is because another method the prisoners have of making income is by providing tours of the prison for foreigners. Tours are illegal and prohibited by the prison officials yet there the tours have been offered for years hence being mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide for South America. Supposedly some Australian backpackers have been caught leaving the prison with cocaine and they got deported. This is another way the prisoners make money by selling cocaine. As a result of the Australian deportations there is a clampdown on prison tours so we weren't too hopeful about getting in but we decided to try. The tours are illegal so you have to get smuggled in and pay bribes along the way. To start with we asked at our hotel how we could get to the prison, after a short lecture on how it was illegal and we could get deported they explained how to get there and told us not to take any valuables. It was walking distance from our hotel, located right in the center of La Paz. We weren't so worried about getting deported for entering the prison as we were both leaving in two days.
We'd heard that the best time to get a tour was early in the morning but we ignored this and arrived in the early afternoon. We took a walk around the outside of the prison and then sat in the park watching entrance. There was a big queue outside the prison and quite a few police so I wasn't hopeful about getting in. Anna suggested that we just join the queue of locals and try get in that way but I talked her out of it convincing her that it would work. Surprisingly later that day Anna found a blog post by some guy explaining how he queued with the families of the inmates and then told the prison guard he was there to see Juan (a common name in Latin America) and he was allowed in. I can't find the blog post anymore so no link to it. It turns out I was wrong about joining the queue but maybe it was for the best. Soon after we sat in the park about 50 police arrived in full riot gear and entered the prison. At this stage the queue disappeared with people crowding around the entrance. About a half hour later the riot police emerged and the queue reformed. We've know idea what happened possibly there were doing the daily role call for the imates or maybe there was something else happen. At this point it was late afternoon so we decided to call it a day and try again the following morning.
 |
| Visitors queuing outside San Pedro Prison |
Once again we didn't manage to get there in the early morning instead early afternoon. This time there was a vehicle outside which was obviously being used to transport inmates. We walked around and took some photos then we heard the police calling us. We waited and one approached, we chatted in Spanish, he said we couldn't take photos, Anna asked why and argued that it was a street and there shouldn't be a problem. He explained that it was a problem and we had to delete them. He was friendly and seemed somewhat amused by Anna's questions and our Spanish. At this point we realised the chances of a tour were pretty slim with all the police around so we retreated to the park. We saw another group of tourists take some photos but they ignored the police and walked off. They were immediately surrounded by police and had their cameras briefly confiscated.
 |
| Police escorting prisoners out San Pedro Prison |
Talking was obviously the best choice. As soon as we sat down we were approached by "New York Dave". We'd read about him in Lonely Planet and also on various peoples travel blogs. He also goes by the name "New York Nick". After reading so much about him it was interesting to get to meet him and have him attempt to scam us. Thats his deal, he scams tourists by offering them tours of the prison. He told us some of the history of the prison, told us how he was on work release and that prison tours were now legal. It was fairly obvious it was a scam as he backtracked lots of times and frequently contradicted himself but we still it was interesting to hear him tell how he'd be released in 2 weeks when you've read blog posts from last year from people who met him then and he said he was being released in 2 weeks. I never considered getting a photo of him but Juergen from Bolivia for 21 days have kindly allowed me use their photo in my blog.
 |
| New York Dave (photo from Bolivia for 21 days) |
I can see how Dave cons people with his prison tour scam. He says he'll take you to the police station and there you pay 7 Bolivianos for the documentation and then you go to a side entrance of the prison and pay a bribe for the guards. (contradicting himself here as he's already said that they are legal and his work-release job is to find tourists!). Even if you think it is a scam I can see how some people would be tempted to try it just incase it isn't as it is not an enormous amount of money but I'm sure thats part of the scam. I don't know what happens when you go to the police station but I expect you end up handing over more than 7 Bolivianos when you go to a police station asking for the documentation to get you illegally smuggled into a prison. We declined Dave's offer and as it was late afternoon concluded that we weren't going to enter San Pedro prison on this trip. We never made it into the prison but it was fun attempting to do so. Maybe next time...
:)
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