Inmates have become entrepreneurs at Uruguay's Punta de Rieles prison as part of an experiment in captive capitalism. Story by leohaberkorn and photos by MCampodo.
In this May 29, 2019 photo, an abandoned guard tower stands in the inner court area as clothes hang from a fence of the Punta de Rieles prison in Montevideo, Uruguay. Punta de Rieles is an exception not only in Uruguay but in Latin America where penitentiary systems are synonymous with inhumane treatment, inhospitable conditions and very high recidivism rates.
There are bakeries and barbershops, a candy store and carpenter shop along streets where inmates mix with prison officials and police. One inmate carries a begonia he bought from a prisoner-owned nursery to give to his mother when she visits. Not far away, a convict-baker carries a birthday cake to the prison entrance to hand off to a customer.
The Punta de Rieles project began in late 2012, with Parodi as deputy director, and he took over as head of the prison in 2015. The bet is that prisoners who work, study, learn a craft or start a business will have a better life and be less likely to return to crime. Ten percent of the profits go back to that fund, another 10% goes to the government for use of the facilities and 10% goes to an association of victims of crime. The rest goes into accounts for the inmates, though they can’t fully access it until they are released.
Even more successful is a bakery started by two prisoners who have kept it going despite being released and now employ 50 to 70 people. They come back to the prison almost daily and sometimes even sleep there, voluntarily this time.
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