The presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, They collided with the look that each president has given to the prison policy of his country.
The first to attack was President Petro. During the delivery of the expansion of the District University, the president He criticized the mega-prison that Bukele built in Central America.
“I can’t get into other countries, but there is a concentration camp in El Salvador. There are thousands and thousands of young people incarcerated that give one the chills. There are people who like to see young people in jails and believe that this is security,” Petro said.
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The president described andThe detention center of El Salvador as “dantesque” and criticized the fact that Bukele linked the reduction in homicides with the massive entry of criminal gangs into prisons.
“Mr. Gustavo Petro, the results weigh more than the rhetoric. I wish that Colombia actually managed to lower the homicide rates, as we Salvadorans have achieved. God bless you,” Bukele replied on his Twitter account.
The view of the leaders regarding the penitentiary system is opposite. Last January Bukeland inaugurated a 166-hectare mega-prison that intends to detain 40,000 gang members.
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While the Petro government filed before Congress –with a message of urgency– a reform to the Justice that would give way to the inclusion of restorative penalties.
The Colombian government’s justice reform raises issues such as the possibility for prisoners to work during the day, makes it more flexible for some inmates to access the house while in prison, and contemplates that reparation for victims of minor crimes be through of restorative justice.
In the counterpoint, Petro invited Bukele to organize an international forum in which the reduction in homicides in both countries is compared.
“Well, Nayib, We went from 90 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 1993 in Bogotá to 13 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. We did not build prisons but universities”, explained the Colombian head of state.
“You governed 30 years? Bogota? Aren’t you the president of Colombia? Our experience: From more than 100 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, we are now in single digits. And the reduction was rapid, because the dead do not recover ”, was Bukele’s last response.