News of prison

Number of inmates jailed at Argentina’s federal prisons on the rise

16-10-2024 12:37 Prisoners held in Argentina’s federal jails increased in the third quarter of 2024, rising 0.9% from previous year.

SOCIETY

Incarcerated reap benefits of in-prison university education scheme

31-08-2024 06:08 University education programmes in prisons deliver inmates a brighter future and help reduce recidivism. Journalist Jesús Cabral is just one who has reaped the rewards of the innovative CUSAM in-prison education project. “I’ve had many moments of crisis since I got out, but I haven’t reofferend,” he explains.

by Josefina Salomon

LA LIBERTAD AVANZA IN CRISIS

Arrieta jumps ship after leaking bills to free dictatorship criminals

28-08-2024 23:56 Amid controversy within La Libertad Avanza over the visit of pro-government deputies to criminals convicted for crimes against humanity at Ezeiza Prison, national deputy leaks draft bills and decree that aim to force through their release.

JUSTICE SYSTEM & PRISONS

Milei slashes budget for legal centres in favour of prison spending

29-06-2024 04:25 Argentina’s Justice Ministry announces closure of 81 Centres of Access to Justice nationwide; Milei government boosts budget for the ‘Criminal Policy’ programme by 963% in move to “modernise Penitentiary Service” and “improve the situation of persons deprived of liberty."

by Agustina Bordigoni

PROTESTS IN POSADAS

Police protest lifted after pay deal, two weeks of tension in Misiones ends

29-05-2024 10:40 After 13 days of tension and demonstrations in Posadas, Misiones police seal pay deal with provincial government and lift protest.

CRIME & SECURITY

Prison breaks in Buenos Aires: 19 inmates escape in 20 days, many convicts at large

23-04-2024 16:04 Fugitives on the run in Argentina – overcrowding at police stations in and across the capital allows detainees to escape from jail.

CRIME & SECURITY

Santa Fe governor orders Bukele-style tactics for narcos in Rosario

11-03-2024 12:53 Santa Fe Province Governor Maximiliano Pullaro is angering narco bosses with his Bukele-style approach to tackling drug violence in dangerous Rosario.

Russian opposition leader

Navalny's widow vows to take up the fight for Russia's 'freedom'

20-02-2024 13:24 Yulia Navalnaya on Monday vowed to continue her husband Alexei Navalny's fight after his death in a Russian prison last week, for which she blamed the Kremlin.

Death of Russian Activist

Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny dies in prison

16-02-2024 14:09 Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin's most prominent critic, died on Friday in an Arctic prison; Protests begin as Western officials blame Putin for death of opposition leader.

Drug war crisis

Relatives of Ecuador drug boss 'Fito' arrested and deported from Argentina

19-01-2024 12:40 Security forces arrest and detain relatives of fugitive drug-boss Jose Adolfo Macías, alias 'Fito,' in Córdoba; Wife and children deported in early hours of Friday morning.

Ecuador drug war

Soldiers enter key Ecuador prison as 'war' on narcos deepens

18-01-2024 14:08 Hundreds of soldiers enter a prison in a Guayaquil as part of crackdown on drug bosses, day after high-profile assassination of prosecutor investigating last week's attack on public TV station.

Narco-violence terrorises Ecuador

Ecuador’s ‘armed conflict’ against drug cartels explodes into violence

11-01-2024 16:50 Tanks and soldiers patrol the streets of Ecuador as third day of terror continues; Cartels have ‘declared war’ against President Daniel Noboa and the national government.

NARCO-VIOLENCE IN ECUADOR

Ecuador's 'armed conflict' with drug gangs – what we know

10-01-2024 18:21 What you need to know about the unfolding crisis in troubled Ecuador.

GOLF

Golfer Ángel Cabrera reinstated by PGA after prison stay

20-12-2023 09:15 Two-time major winner Ángel Cabrera has been reinstated by the PGA Tour and over-50 PGA Tour Champions after serving a two-year prison sentence for gender violence.

ELECTION 2023

Which of Argentina’s presidential candidates won the prison vote?

31-10-2023 14:28 Electoral roll for incarcerated population reveals that more than 25,000 prisoners cast a vote in the October 22 presidential election, with Sergio Massa receiving almost 72%.

PRISONS

Record incarceration rates at Buenos Aires Province’s overcrowded jails

09-09-2023 06:59 Incarceration rate in the nation’s most-populous region hits record high; Report reveals provincial prison system went from having 306 people detained per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021 to 311 in 2022 – in December last year there were 55,621 people detained in prisons, police stations and police stations across Buenos Aires Province.

by Leonardo Nieva

FIFAGATE CORRUPTION

Ex-banker who paid FIFA bribes avoids prison by aiding crackdown

12-05-2023 12:56 Argentine sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco, who admitted paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to corrupt Latin American football officials, spared from prison after serving as star witness in FIFA-gate trial.

GRUPO PUEBLA FORUM

Fernández de Kirchner: ‘I don’t care if they put me in prison’

22-03-2023 16:32 Argentina’s vice-president uses closing speech of Grupo Puebla summit in Buenos Aires to repeat claims she is a victim of political persecution and condemn the “lawfare” that is flooding the region.

CRIME & SECURITY

Around 4% of Argentina’s prison population serving life terms

23-02-2023 11:17 According to data from 2021, there were 55,933 convicts jailed nationwide, of whom 2,489 were sentenced to life imprisonment, according to national statistics. Of these, 726 are serving their sentences in Buenos Aires provincial penitentiaries, where the eight individuals recently sentenced for the murder of Fernando Báez Sosa are now being detained.

by Nadia Galán

MUSICAL DOC

Lola Arias: ‘I'm not interested in reproducing stigmatisation’

20-02-2023 16:52 At a former prison in Caseros, film and theatre director Lola Arias is making ‘Reas,’ a musical documentary starring women and trans people who were deprived of their liberty. In an interview, she seeks to distance the film from the prejudices surrounding prison life and explains how the feature came about.

by Nancy Giampaolo

COURTS & JUDICIARY

Chubut judge who allegedly kissed inmate faces impeachment trial

28-11-2022 15:26 Chubut magistrate Mariel Alejandra Suárez was denounced before judicial authorities last January after a video was made public showing her allegedly kissing an inmate at a prison at Trelew. She denies the allegations against her, but Magistrates Council rules she should face impeachment trial for “poor performance” of duties.

by Nadia Galán

DRUG TRAFFICKING

Ecuador: a new nerve centre for global drug trade

24-11-2022 13:18 Geography and corruption among the main reasons that one of Latin America's smaller countries has evolved into a hotspot for transnational crime.