Responding to COVID-19 in Latin American Prisons: The Cases of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze how prison systems in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It explores the challenges these institutions face, the actions taken, the beneficiaries from such measures, and their immediate effect. We argue that governments and prison authorities struggle to put in place comprehensive measures to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 within these institutions and that more concrete and swift actions are needed to address the magnitude and the consequences of the pandemic. This paper uses both primary and secondary data to describe the current prison situation and analyze institutional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in these countries.