Ở Mỹ Latinh, lính canh không kiểm soát nhà tù, các băng nhóm thì có

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Ecuador’s military was sent in to seize control of the country’s prisons last month after two major gang leaders escaped (trốn thoát) and criminal groups quickly set off a nationwide revolt (cuộc nổi dậy toàn quốc) that paralyzed the country.

In Brazil last week, two inmates (tù nhân) with connections to a major gang became the first to escape from one of the nation’s five maximum-security federal prisons, officials said.

Criminal groups fully or partly control (kiểm soát) well over half of Mexico’s 285 prisons, according to experts, while in Brazil the government often divides up penitentiaries based on gang affiliation in a bid to avoid unrest (tránh tình trạng bất ổn). In Ecuador, experts say most of the country’s 36 prisons are under some degree of gang control.

Many countries have imposed tougher law (áp đặt luật cứng rắn hơn) and order policies, including longer sentences and more convictions for low-level drug offenses, pushing most of the region’s penitentiaries beyond maximum capacity.

At the same time, governments have prioritized investing in their security forces as a way to clamp down on crime and flex their muscles to the public, rather than spend on prisons, which are less visible (dễ thấy).

The gangs have such sway in Brazil’s prisons (nhà tù), where the authorities themselves often divide prisons by gang affiliation, that officials force new prisoners to pick a side, to limit violence.

source: nytimes,