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A4 WORLD NEWS
Monday 23 March 2020
23 inmates dead after protest over virus fears in Colombia

By SERGIO LEON and around the world: With
CHRISTINE ARMARIO nearly 1.5 million prisoners
Associated Press behind bars, Latin Amer-
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ica's packed jails are an
— A deadly riot broke out ideal breeding ground for
in a prison in Colombia's disease.
capital, leaving 23 inmates In Brazil, hundreds of pris-
dead, authorities said Sun- oners from several facilities
day, as tensions rise over in Sao Paulo state have
the spread of the corona- escaped in recent days
virus in one of the most vul- while family members of
nerable locations: crowd- opposition activists jailed
ed, poorly kept peniten- in Venezuela say they fear
tiaries. Justice Minister Mar- for their loved ones amid
garita Cabello described unconfirmed reports that
the events at the La Mod- four police officers at the
elo prison in Bogota as an country's most notorious jail
attempted prison escape, for political prisoners have
but advocates for inmates come down sick with the
said officials had cracked illness.
down on inmates staging a In the U.S., authorities
peaceful protest over con- across the country have
ditions they feared would been ordering the release
exacerbate infections with Inmates display a sign reading in Spanish "More than 30 dead" at La Modelo jail in Bogota, of non-violent offenders
the virus. Colombia, Sunday, March 22, 2020. and restricting the number
"Today is a sad and painful Associated Press of new detainees to pre-
day for the country," Ca- saying only that seven jail navirus. "This was a peace- But with notoriously over- vent spread of the disease.
bello said. workers had also been in- ful protest," Leon said. "The crowded and often violent But such solutions have
The conflict at La Mod- jured, two critically. Ca- response of authorities was prisons, many are con- been slower to material-
elo, which houses both bello said no inmates had overhanded." cerned that the virus could ize in Latin America, where
suspects and convicts of escaped and that to date, Colombia had confirmed spread quickly there. jails are frequently over-
crimes ranging from bur- none had been diagnosed 231 coronavirus cases and It's an issue for many na- crowded and run by vio-
glary to drug trafficking, with coronavirus either. two deaths as of Sunday. tions in the region and lent gangs.q
began late Saturday eve- "This was a criminal at-
ning. Inmates shared vid- tempt to escape that was Virus fears curb old mate
eos online showing people thwarted," she said in a vid-
outside their cells, yelling eo statement. custom in parts of South America
as shots rang out in the dis- Jhon Leon, director of Judi-
tance. cial Solidarity, an organiza-
"They have us abandoned tion that works to improve By ALMUDENA CALATRA-
here!" one inmate ex- inmate conditions, said pris- VA
claimed. "They have us like oners had planned a na- Associated Press
dogs." tionwide protest Saturday BUENOS AIRES, Argen-
On Sunday, evidence of evening after complaining tina (AP) — Sharing the
the violence was still visible: about the dire state of jails mate beverage is an old
The body of one man lay for two weeks without get- tradition in parts of South
face-up on a roof, dressed ting a reply. America. The new coro-
in bright blue shorts, white He said about 5,000 peo- navirus is changing that.
sneakers and a bloody ple housed in the jail, some In Uruguay, Paraguay
gray sweatshirt. Family of whom are kept six to a and Argentina, people
members, many wearing cell while others sleep in customarily consume
protective masks, gath- hallways. Prisoners want the beverage - made by
ered outside, clamoring for elderly inmates and those steeping leaves of the
information. with preexisting conditions mate plant in hot wa-
"We're desperate because to be moved to other lo- ter - in groups, sharing a In this March 17, 2020 photo, Oscar Brun, left, shares his "mate"
drink with a work colleague Tomas Bravo at his ironworks
we don't know anything," cations and be put in iso- metal straw from mouth shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
one woman cried. lation, he said. They also to mouth. The tradition Associated Press
Authorities did not provide want more information on transcends social classes, mate enthusiasts are be- edged that it's up to the
a detailed account of whether any inmates have is present in the home and ing urged to consume the individual whether they
how the inmates had died, been tested for the coro- workplace, and on hand beverage individually. want to share the straw
for just about social occa- Some people are making as mass anxiety over the
sion. Even soccer super- a big effort to put health new coronavirus sweeps
stars such as Lionel Messi concerns above habits of the region.
and Luis Suarez have sharing the social brew. There are more than 230
often been seen with Others, not so much. reported cases of people
a mate gourd in hand. "For Uruguayans, it's al- infected with the virus in
Now, as countries around ways a custom to share," Argentina Uruguay and
the world implement so- said 66-year-old Oscar Paraguay, alarming those
cial distancing in an at- Brun of Uruguay, Brun, who previously thought
tempt to curb the spread who has lived in Argentina nothing of passing around
of the COVID-19 disease, for decades, acknowl- the mate straw. q