Prisons and Prisoners in Modernising Latin America, 1800-1940

Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America PRISONS฀AND฀PRISONERS฀IN฀ MODERNISING฀LATIN฀AMERICA (1800-1940) Carlos฀Aguirre1 Prisons฀are฀many฀things฀at฀the฀same฀time:฀institutions฀embodying฀state฀power฀and฀ authority;฀arenas฀of฀confl฀ict,฀negotiation฀and฀resistance;฀spaces฀for฀the฀creation฀of฀ subaltern฀forms฀of฀socialisation฀and฀culture;฀powerful฀symbols฀of฀modernity฀(or฀ lack฀thereof);฀cultural฀artefacts฀representing฀the฀contradictions฀and฀tensions฀affl฀icting฀societies;฀economic฀enterprises฀aimed฀at฀manufacturing฀both฀commodities฀ and฀ workers;฀ centres฀ for฀ the฀ production฀ of฀ different฀ forms฀ of฀ knowledge฀ about฀the฀lower฀classes฀of฀society;฀and,฀last฀but฀not฀least,฀places฀where฀large฀segments฀of฀the฀human฀population฀live฀parts฀of฀their฀lives,฀shape฀their฀worldviews,฀ and฀engage฀in฀negotiations฀and฀interactions฀with฀other฀individuals฀and฀state฀authorities฀in฀a฀constant฀struggle฀to฀survive.฀We฀study฀prisons฀for฀what฀they฀tell฀us฀ about฀themselves—their฀designs,฀their฀functioning,฀their฀place฀in฀society—but฀ also฀about฀their฀residents,฀about฀those฀exercising฀authority฀over฀them฀(the฀state,฀ penal฀experts฀and฀others)฀and฀about฀the฀social฀arrangements฀they฀refl฀ect,฀reproduce฀or฀subvert. Writing฀the฀history฀of฀prisons฀in฀modern฀Latin฀America฀is฀not฀an฀easy฀endeavour,฀since฀it฀must฀encompass฀a฀number฀of฀countries฀with฀quite฀different฀sociopolitical฀ processes,฀ patterns฀ of฀ economic฀ development,฀ racial/ethnic฀ make-ups฀ 1 ฀฀ I฀would฀like฀to฀thank฀all฀the฀participants฀in฀the฀‘Cultures฀of฀Confi฀nement’฀workshop฀(London,฀ June฀ and฀ December฀ 2005)฀ for฀ their฀ encouragement,฀ criticism฀ and฀ suggestions,฀ and฀ especially฀ Frank฀Dikötter฀for฀the฀original฀invitation฀to฀be฀part฀of฀this฀project฀and฀for฀his฀valuable฀feedback฀ on฀earlier฀versions฀of฀this฀chapter.฀I฀would฀also฀like฀to฀recognise฀my฀debt฀to฀Ricardo฀Salvatore฀ (Universidad฀Torcuato฀di฀Tella,฀Buenos฀Aires),฀in฀dialogue฀and฀collaboration฀with฀whom฀many฀ of฀my฀ideas฀about฀prisons฀in฀Latin฀America฀have฀been฀shaped฀over฀the฀years. 14 15 and฀experiments฀with฀punishment฀and฀incarceration฀that฀have฀to฀do฀with฀the฀ divergent฀adaptation฀of฀foreign฀doctrines,฀the฀development฀of฀internal฀ideological฀and฀political฀debates,฀and฀subaltern฀forms฀of฀agency฀and฀resistance.฀The฀diffi฀culties฀faced฀by฀such฀an฀enterprise฀are฀even฀greater฀if฀we฀consider฀the฀relatively฀ undeveloped฀state฀of฀the฀historiography฀on฀prisons฀in฀the฀region.฀This฀chapter,฀ which฀ builds฀ upon฀ a฀ host฀ of฀ recently฀ published฀ monographs฀ and฀ edited฀ volumes,2฀summarises฀the฀connections฀between฀the฀history฀of฀prisons฀and฀the฀evolution฀of฀Latin฀American฀societies฀from฀1800฀to฀1940.฀The฀main฀goal฀is฀to฀offer฀a฀ rough฀outline฀of฀some฀of฀the฀main฀contours฀of฀this฀history,฀focusing฀on฀the฀relationship฀between฀the฀design฀and฀functioning฀of฀prisons,฀the฀institutional฀forms฀of฀ punishment฀being฀implemented,฀the฀forms฀of฀coping฀and฀resistance฀that฀prisoners฀adopted,฀and฀the฀specifi฀c฀forms฀of฀state-society฀relation฀that฀prison฀regimes฀ refl฀ect฀and฀reveal. One฀caveat฀is฀in฀order฀at฀the฀start฀of฀this฀chapter.฀The฀term฀‘modern’฀will฀be฀ frequently฀applied฀when฀referring฀to฀Latin฀American฀societies฀and฀prisons฀during฀the฀period฀under฀study.฀By฀that,฀two฀different฀things฀are฀meant.฀First,฀it฀is฀ merely฀a฀chronological฀label,฀since฀the฀‘modern’฀period฀in฀Latin฀America฀is฀almost฀always฀considered฀to฀be฀the฀one฀that฀followed฀the฀end฀of฀colonial฀times฀(for฀ most฀of฀the฀region฀except฀Cuba฀and฀Puerto฀Rico)฀around฀the฀second฀decade฀of฀ the฀nineteenth฀century.฀Thus,฀according฀to฀this฀view,฀colonialism฀was฀necessarily฀ pre-modern฀ and฀ modernity฀ a฀ condition,฀ or฀ a฀ possibility,฀ associated฀ exclusively฀ with฀independent฀nation-states.฀For฀the฀sake฀of฀simplicity฀this฀usage฀of฀the฀term฀ ‘modern’฀will฀be฀maintained฀when฀referring฀to฀post-independence฀Latin฀America.฀Second,฀the฀term฀refl฀ects฀the฀goals,฀hopes฀and฀self-image฀of฀Latin฀American฀ ฀฀ A฀short฀list฀must฀include฀Fernando฀Picó,฀El฀día฀menos฀pensado:฀Historia฀de฀los฀presidiarios฀en฀Puerto฀ Rico,฀1793–1993,฀Río฀Piedras:฀Ediciones฀Huracán,฀1994;฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore฀and฀Carlos฀Aguirre฀ (eds),฀ The฀ Birth฀ of฀ the฀ Penitentiary฀ in฀ Latin฀America:฀ Essays฀ on฀ criminology,฀ prison฀ reform,฀ and฀ social฀ control,฀ 1830–1940,฀Austin,฀TX:฀ University฀ of฀Texas฀ Press,฀ 1996;฀Antonio฀ Padilla฀Arroyo,฀ De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri:฀Pensamiento฀social฀y฀penal฀en฀el฀México฀decimonónico,฀Mexico฀City:฀Archivo฀ General฀de฀la฀Nación,฀2001;฀Peter฀M.฀Beattie,฀The฀Tribute฀of฀Blood:฀Army,฀honor,฀race,฀and฀nation฀ in฀Brazil,฀1864–1945,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2001;฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore,฀Carlos฀ Aguirre฀and฀Gilbert฀M.฀Joseph฀(eds),฀Crime฀and฀Punishment฀in฀Latin฀America:฀Law฀and฀society฀since฀ colonial฀times,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2001;฀Marco฀Antonio฀León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀ corrección:฀La฀confi฀guración฀de฀un฀sistema฀de฀prisiones฀en฀Chile฀(1800–1911),฀Santiago:฀Universidad฀ Central฀de฀Chile,฀2003;฀Marcos฀Fernández฀Labbé,฀Prisión฀común,฀imaginario฀social฀e฀identidad฀social,฀ 1870–1920,฀Santiago:฀Editorial฀Andrés฀Bello,฀2003;฀Lila฀Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente:฀Crimen,฀ castigo฀y฀cultura฀en฀la฀Argentina,฀1880–1955,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Siglo฀XXI,฀2004;฀Carlos฀Aguirre,฀The฀ Criminals฀of฀Lima฀and฀Their฀Worlds:฀The฀prison฀experience,฀1850–1935,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2005;฀Ernesto฀Bohoslavsky฀and฀María฀Silvia฀Di฀Liscia฀(eds),฀Instituciones฀y฀formas฀de฀ control฀social฀en฀América฀Latina,฀1840–1940.฀Una฀revision,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Prometeo฀Libros,฀2006. 2 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Punishment฀and฀Prisons฀from฀Colonial฀Times฀to฀the฀New฀Nation-states élites฀ and฀ prison฀ reformers.฀ Modernity฀ was฀ their฀ ultimate฀ goal฀ as฀ well฀ as฀ the฀ measure฀of฀their฀successes฀and฀failures.฀To฀be฀modern,฀or฀at฀least฀to฀offer฀the฀appearance฀of฀being฀so,฀was฀the฀almost฀universal฀aspiration฀of฀Latin฀American฀élites,฀ and฀prisons฀(i.e.฀modern฀prisons)฀came฀to฀be฀imagined฀as฀part฀of฀that฀project.฀ Thus฀it฀may฀seem฀legitimate฀to฀assess฀the฀evolution฀of฀prisons฀against฀those฀goals฀ and฀objectives,฀i.e.,฀against฀the฀aspirations฀to฀‘modernity’฀that฀the฀Latin฀American฀ élites฀so฀proudly฀proclaimed. fact,฀overly฀important฀in฀the฀punitive฀schemes฀being฀implemented฀by฀colonial฀ authorities.฀In฀most฀cases฀they฀were฀simply฀places฀of฀detention฀for฀suspects฀being฀ tried฀or฀for฀condemned฀criminals฀awaiting฀the฀execution฀of฀their฀sentences.฀Colonial฀forms฀of฀punishment฀and฀social฀control฀did฀not฀count฀prisons฀as฀one฀of฀ their฀main฀conduits.฀Punishment,฀in฀fact,฀was฀more฀commonly฀applied฀through฀ various฀other฀mechanisms฀typical฀of฀ancien฀régime฀societies,฀such฀as฀public฀execuancien฀régime tions,฀branding,฀whipping,฀public฀works฀or฀banishment.฀Housed฀in฀rather฀fetid฀ and฀insecure฀buildings,฀most฀colonial฀gaols฀did฀not฀even฀keep฀records฀of฀inmates,฀ dates฀of฀entry฀and฀release,฀or฀categories฀of฀crimes฀and฀sentences.฀Various฀types฀of฀ gaols฀coexisted฀within฀a฀rather฀loose฀assortment฀of฀institutions฀of฀confi฀nement:฀ inquisition฀ and฀ municipal฀ gaols,฀ military฀ and฀ police฀ stations,฀ religious฀ shelters฀ for฀destitute฀women฀and฀private฀detention฀centres฀such฀as฀bakeries฀and฀textile฀ sweatshops—where฀slaves฀and฀criminals฀were฀secluded฀and฀subjected฀to฀forced฀ labour—or฀private฀gaols฀in฀rural฀haciendas฀and฀plantations,฀where฀unruly฀workers฀were฀punished.฀Penal฀islands฀such฀as฀Juan฀Fernández฀in฀Chile,฀San฀Juan฀de฀ Ulúa฀in฀Mexico฀or฀San฀Lorenzo฀in฀Peru,฀or฀presidios฀(military฀barracks)฀located฀ in฀frontier฀areas,฀were฀also฀used฀to฀detain฀and฀punish฀criminals฀deemed฀extremely฀ dangerous.฀While฀some฀capital฀cities—Mexico฀City,฀Lima,฀Buenos฀Aires฀or฀Rio฀ de฀Janeiro—could฀show฀some฀degree฀of฀organisation฀in฀the฀logistics฀of฀incarceration฀ (with฀ written฀ bylaws฀ and฀ regular฀‘visitas฀ de฀ cárcel’฀ or฀ gaol฀ inspections฀ performed฀ by฀ colonial฀ authorities),฀ imprisonment฀ during฀ the฀ colonial฀ period฀ was฀a฀social฀practice฀regulated฀by฀custom,฀not฀the฀law,฀and฀aimed฀at฀simply฀warehousing฀detainees฀without฀implementing฀any฀institutional฀regime฀of฀punishment฀ seeking฀to฀reform฀criminals.5 During฀the฀wars฀of฀independence฀and฀the฀immediate฀aftermath,฀criticism฀of฀ colonial฀prison฀conditions฀was฀voiced฀by฀a฀few฀independent฀leaders฀that฀pointed฀ to฀ them฀ as฀ evidence฀ of฀ the฀ horrors฀ of฀ colonialism.฀ General฀ José฀ de฀ San฀ Martín,฀for฀instance,฀the฀‘liberator’฀of฀Argentina,฀Chile฀and฀Peru,฀visited฀Lima’s฀gaols฀ shortly฀after฀proclaiming฀the฀independence฀of฀Peru฀and฀was฀appalled฀by฀what฀he฀ 16 PUNISHMENT฀AND฀PRISONS฀FROM฀COLONIAL฀TIMES฀ TO฀THE฀NEW฀NATION-STATES For฀most฀countries฀in฀the฀region฀independence฀from฀colonialism฀was฀attained฀ during฀the฀period฀from฀1810฀to฀1825.3฀After฀the฀expulsion฀of฀Spanish฀and฀Portuguese฀colonial฀powers,฀those฀newly-independent฀countries฀started฀a฀protracted฀ and฀complicated฀process฀of฀state-฀and฀nation-formation฀that,฀in฀most฀cases,฀was฀ shaped฀by฀a฀continuous฀counterpoint฀between฀the฀imported฀ideals฀of฀republicanism,฀ liberalism฀ and฀ the฀ rule฀ of฀ law,฀ and฀ the฀ realities฀ of฀ racist,฀ authoritarian฀ and฀exclusionary฀social฀structures.฀European฀colonialism฀was฀replaced฀by฀sociopolitical฀ and฀ legal฀ structures฀ that฀ reinforced฀ the฀ exclusion฀ of฀ large฀ sectors฀ of฀ the฀indigenous฀and฀black฀populations.฀In฀the฀name฀of฀individual฀liberal฀rights฀ the฀Creole฀élites฀that฀captured฀state฀power฀deprived฀Indians฀and฀blacks฀of฀even฀ the฀small,฀but฀not฀unimportant,฀windows฀of฀legal฀protection฀accorded฀them฀by฀ paternalistic฀colonial฀legislation฀and฀practices.฀Profoundly฀hierarchical฀societies฀ continued฀to฀exist฀under฀the฀legal฀façade฀of฀a฀republic฀of฀citizens.฀The฀permanence฀of฀slavery฀and฀other฀forms฀of฀labour,฀racial฀and฀social฀control—peonage,฀ Indian฀ tribute,฀ forced฀ military฀ conscription฀ and฀ vagrancy฀ laws,฀ to฀ name฀ but฀ a฀ few—fl฀agrantly฀contradicted฀the฀system฀of฀equality฀before฀the฀law฀and฀universal฀citizenship฀promised฀by฀most฀Spanish-American฀constitutions.4฀Within฀this฀ context฀ prisons฀ played฀ an฀ important,฀ albeit฀ not฀ necessarily฀ central,฀ role฀ in฀ the฀ implementation฀of฀mechanisms฀of฀social,฀labour฀and฀racial฀control฀in฀the฀postindependence฀era. During฀ the฀ colonial฀ period฀ prisons฀ and฀ gaols฀ were฀ not฀ institutional฀ spaces฀ that฀administrators,฀visitors,฀travellers฀or฀inmates฀could฀praise฀for฀their฀organisation,฀ security,฀ hygiene฀ or฀ positive฀ effects฀ on฀ their฀ residents.฀They฀ were฀ not,฀ in฀ 3 4 ฀฀ The฀only฀exceptions฀were฀Cuba฀and฀Puerto฀Rico,฀where฀Spanish฀colonialism฀ended฀in฀1898. ฀฀ Florencia฀Mallon,฀‘Indian฀Communities,฀Political฀Cultures฀and฀the฀State฀in฀Latin฀America’,฀Journal฀of฀Latin฀American฀Studies,฀24฀(1992),฀pp.฀35–55;฀Brooke฀Larson,฀Trials฀of฀Nation฀Making:฀Liberalism,฀race,฀and฀ethnicity฀in฀the฀Andes,฀1810–1910,฀Cambridge฀University฀Press,฀2004. 17 ฀฀ For฀studies฀about฀the฀various฀forms฀of฀punishment฀in฀colonial฀Latin฀America,฀see฀Patricia฀Aufderheide,฀‘Order฀and฀Violence:฀Social฀deviance฀and฀social฀control฀in฀Brazil,฀1780–1840’,฀PhD฀ dissertation,฀ University฀ of฀ Minnesota,฀ 1976;฀William฀Taylor,฀ Drinking,฀ Homicide,฀ and฀ Rebellion฀ in฀Colonial฀Mexican฀Villages,฀Stanford฀University฀Press,฀1979,฀pp.฀97–106;฀Gabriel฀Haslip-Viera,฀ Crime฀ and฀ Punishment฀ in฀ Late฀ Colonial฀ Mexico,฀ 1692–1810,฀Albuquerque,฀ NM:฀ University฀ of฀ New฀Mexico฀Press,฀1999;฀Alberto฀Flores฀Galindo,฀Aristocracia฀y฀plebe:฀Estructura฀de฀clases฀y฀sociedad฀ colonial,฀Lima,฀1760–1830,฀Lima:฀Mosca฀Azul฀Editores,฀1984;฀Marco฀Antonio฀León฀León,฀‘Justicia,฀ ceremonia฀y฀sacrifi฀cio:฀Una฀aproximación฀a฀las฀ejecuciones฀públicas฀en฀el฀Chile฀colonial’,฀Notas฀ Históricas฀y฀Geográfi฀cas,฀Universidad฀de฀Playa฀Ancha,฀Chile,฀11฀(2000),฀pp.฀89–122;฀León฀León,฀ Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀I,฀pp.฀53–125. 5 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Punishment฀and฀Prisons฀from฀Colonial฀Times฀to฀the฀New฀Nation-states saw.฀He฀ordered฀the฀release฀of฀some฀inmates฀and฀shortly฀after฀enacted฀legislation฀ aimed฀at฀ameliorating฀prison฀conditions.฀More฀important,฀and฀echoing฀ongoing฀ penal฀reforms฀in฀Europe,฀he฀announced฀his฀decision฀to฀transform฀those฀places,฀ where฀‘men฀were฀buried,฀got฀desperate,฀and฀died฀during฀the฀old฀regime’,฀into฀ spaces฀where฀inmates฀could฀be฀‘converted,฀through฀moderate฀and฀useful฀work,฀ from฀immoral฀and฀vicious฀men฀into฀industrious฀and฀honest฀citizens.’6฀However,฀ attitudes฀like฀this฀were฀rather฀uncommon฀and฀prison฀conditions฀rarely฀attracted฀ the฀ attention฀ of฀ post-independence฀ state฀ makers.฀ Some฀ promised฀ to฀ correct฀ those฀atrocities฀by฀enacting฀legislation฀aimed฀at฀implementing฀more฀humane฀and฀ secure฀conditions฀of฀imprisonment.฀However,฀the฀rhetoric฀of฀liberalism,฀republicanism,฀and฀the฀rule฀of฀law฀held฀by฀the฀leaders฀of฀these฀newly-independent฀nations฀was฀always฀neutralised฀by฀discourses฀and฀practices฀that฀emphasised฀the฀need฀ to฀control฀unruly฀and฀undeserving฀masses฀through฀harsh฀mechanisms฀of฀punishment.฀Extrajudicial฀forms฀of฀punishment,฀as฀well฀as฀traditional฀legally-sanctioned฀ punitive฀practices฀such฀as฀public฀works,฀executions,฀whipping฀and฀banishment,฀ continued฀to฀be฀used฀for฀decades฀after฀the฀end฀of฀the฀colonial฀period.7฀Serious฀ fi฀nancial฀shortages฀and฀constant฀political฀turmoil฀prevented฀most฀states฀from฀embarking฀on฀meaningful฀institutional฀reforms.฀States฀were฀simply฀too฀weak฀and฀ fragile,฀and฀the฀élites฀too฀convinced฀of฀the฀unworthiness฀of฀the฀effort,฀to฀even฀imagine฀that฀widespread฀support฀would฀exist฀for฀any฀initiative฀towards฀the฀reform฀ of฀prisons.฀Still,฀echoes฀of฀penal฀debates฀in฀Europe฀and฀North฀America฀began฀to฀ be฀heard฀in฀Latin฀America฀and฀new฀ideas฀about฀prisons฀and฀punishment฀began฀ to฀circulate฀around฀the฀1830s. By฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀the฀penitentiary฀had฀been฀embraced฀as฀the฀state-of-the-art฀institutional฀model฀of฀incarceration฀in฀Europe฀and฀ North฀America.฀A฀setting฀that฀combined฀an฀ad฀hoc฀architectural฀plan,฀a฀highly฀ ad฀hoc regimented฀routine฀of฀work฀and฀instruction,฀constant฀surveillance,฀purportedly฀ humane฀treatment฀and฀religions฀instruction,฀the฀penitentiary฀captured฀the฀imagination฀of฀a฀small฀group฀of฀Latin฀American฀state฀makers฀eager฀to฀imitate฀metropolitan฀ societal฀ models฀ as฀ a฀ way฀ of฀ both฀ embracing฀‘modernity’฀ and฀ trying฀ ‘successful’฀mechanisms฀of฀control฀over฀the฀undisciplined฀masses.฀Since฀at฀least฀ the฀1830s฀public฀debates฀began฀to฀show฀the฀awareness฀among฀Latin฀American฀ enlightened฀ commentators฀ of฀ ongoing฀ penal฀ reforms฀ in฀ Europe฀ and฀ North฀ America.8฀As฀with฀other฀aspects฀of฀Latin฀American฀societies,฀these฀interventions฀ usually฀pointed฀to฀the฀sharp฀contrast฀between฀what฀they฀saw฀(and฀were฀ashamed฀ of)฀in฀their฀own฀countries฀and฀the฀‘successes’฀of฀‘civilised’฀nations฀in฀the฀implementation฀of฀social฀policies,฀in฀this฀case,฀the฀elimination฀of฀crime฀and฀the฀creation฀of฀modern฀prison฀regimes.฀Still฀we฀have฀to฀notice฀that฀this฀fascination฀with฀ European฀and฀North฀American฀models฀of฀punishment฀was฀not฀universal,฀and฀that฀ even฀if฀for฀many฀state฀makers฀it฀sounded฀like฀a฀good฀idea,฀they฀were฀not฀eager฀to฀ invest฀fi฀nancial฀or฀political฀capital฀behind฀the฀building฀of฀(quite฀expensive)฀institutions฀that,฀they฀thought,฀would฀not฀necessarily฀do฀a฀better฀job฀than฀the฀traditional฀and฀informal฀forms฀of฀punishment฀being฀widely฀used.฀Enlightened฀critics฀ of฀existing฀forms฀of฀punishment—whipping,฀stocks,฀public฀works,฀private฀gaols฀ and฀illegal฀executions—were฀few,฀and฀their฀voices฀were฀lost฀in฀the฀midst฀of฀other,฀ more฀ pressing฀ challenges฀ such฀ as฀ internal฀ fragmentation,฀ political฀ dissent,฀ economic฀backwardness฀and฀foreign฀wars.฀In฀fact฀traditional฀forms฀of฀punishment฀ were฀usually฀considered฀more฀fi฀tting฀to฀the฀kinds฀of฀peoples฀they฀were฀intended฀ to฀punish:฀uncivilised฀and฀barbarous฀masses,฀not฀active฀and฀enlightened฀citizens.฀ Debates฀about฀the฀implementation฀of฀the฀jury฀system,฀for฀instance,฀refl฀ected฀the฀ profound฀distrust฀that฀Latin฀American฀élites฀felt฀for฀their฀rural,฀non-white,฀and฀ illiterate฀masses,฀almost฀always฀regarded฀(even฀by฀well-intentioned฀liberal฀reformers)฀as฀barbarous,฀ignorant฀and฀incapable฀of฀becoming฀‘civilised’. Nonetheless,฀by฀the฀middle฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀several฀modern฀penitentiaries฀were฀built.฀Their฀construction฀was฀an฀attempt฀to฀accomplish฀various฀ goals:฀to฀expand฀state฀intervention฀in฀social฀control฀efforts,฀to฀project฀an฀image฀ of฀modernity฀usually฀conceived฀as฀the฀adoption฀of฀foreign฀models,฀to฀get฀rid฀of฀ shocking฀and฀offensive฀forms฀of฀punishment,฀to฀offer฀urban฀élites฀a฀greater฀sense฀ of฀security,฀and฀to฀improve฀the฀chances฀of฀transforming฀criminals฀into฀law-abiding฀ citizens.฀ However,฀ the฀ appearance฀ of฀ these฀ penitentiaries฀ does฀ not฀ necessarily฀mean฀those฀goals฀were฀a฀priority฀for฀political฀and฀social฀élites.฀In฀fact฀the฀ construction฀of฀modern฀penitentiaries฀was฀the฀exception,฀not฀the฀rule,฀and฀their฀ fate฀would฀provide฀additional฀evidence฀of฀their฀rather฀marginal฀place฀within฀the฀ overall฀mechanisms฀of฀control฀and฀punishment. The฀earliest฀project฀to฀build฀a฀penitentiary฀in฀Latin฀America฀was฀the฀‘House฀ of฀Correction’฀in฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro,฀whose฀construction฀started฀in฀1834฀but฀was฀ 18 ฀฀ Quoted฀in฀Carlos฀Aguirre,฀‘The฀Lima฀Penitentiary฀and฀the฀Modernization฀of฀Criminal฀Justice฀in฀ Nineteenth-Century฀Peru’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀p.฀50. 7 ฀฀ Carlos฀Aguirre,฀‘Violencia,฀castigo฀y฀control฀social:฀esclavos฀y฀panaderías฀en฀Lima,฀siglo฀XIX’,฀ Pasado฀y฀Presente Pasado฀y฀Presente฀(Lima),฀1฀(1988);฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore,฀‘Death฀and฀Liberalism:฀Capital฀punishment฀after฀the฀fall฀of฀Rosas’฀in฀Salvatore,฀Aguirre฀and฀Joseph฀(eds),฀Crime฀and฀Punishment,฀pp.฀ 308–41;฀León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀II,฀chapter฀4. 6 19 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀‘The฀Lima฀Penitentiary’,฀pp.฀53–4;฀León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀II,฀chapter฀3;฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore฀and฀Carlos฀Aguirre,฀‘The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary฀in฀Latin฀America:฀Toward฀ an฀interpretive฀social฀history฀of฀prisons’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre,฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀ 1–43. 8 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Punishment฀and฀Prisons฀from฀Colonial฀Times฀to฀the฀New฀Nation-states completed฀only฀in฀1850.฀The฀time฀it฀took฀to฀complete฀the฀project฀reveals฀a฀great฀ deal฀about฀the฀fi฀nancial฀and฀political฀obstacles฀faced฀by฀early฀prison฀reformers.9 Construction฀of฀the฀penitentiary฀of฀Santiago฀de฀Chile฀started฀in฀1844฀closely฀ following฀the฀Philadelphia฀cellular฀model;฀it฀fi฀rst฀accepted฀inmates฀in฀1847,฀but฀ would฀begin฀operating฀at฀full฀scale฀only฀in฀1856.10฀The฀Peruvian฀government฀ started฀to฀build฀a฀penitentiary฀in฀Lima฀in฀1856฀that฀was฀completed฀and฀began฀ to฀function฀in฀1862,฀this฀time฀following฀the฀Auburn฀or฀‘congregate’฀blueprint.11 Two฀ more฀ penitentiaries฀ were฀ built฀ in฀ the฀ following฀ decade:฀ the฀ Quito฀ penitentiary฀ (Ecuador)฀ was฀ completed฀ in฀ 1874฀ and฀ the฀ Buenos฀Aires฀ penitentiary฀ (Argentina)฀ in฀ 1877.฀A฀ few฀ elements฀ are฀ worth฀ emphasising฀ in฀ this฀ fi฀rst฀ wave฀ of฀prison฀reform฀in฀Latin฀America.฀First,฀the฀design฀and฀bylaws฀of฀these฀penitentiaries฀invariably฀followed฀the฀model฀of฀similar฀North฀American฀institutions,฀ namely฀the฀penitentiaries฀of฀Auburn฀and฀Philadelphia.฀Several฀Latin฀American฀ reformers,฀like฀their฀European฀counterparts฀such฀as฀Alexis฀de฀Tocqueville,฀toured฀ US฀ prisons฀ and฀ were฀ involved฀ in฀ the฀ design฀ and฀ building฀ of฀ penitentiaries฀ in฀ their฀own฀countries.฀This฀group฀includes฀Mariano฀Felipe฀Paz฀Soldán฀from฀Peru,฀ Francisco฀Solano฀Astaburuaga฀from฀Chile฀and฀Mucio฀Valdovinos฀from฀Mexico.฀ These฀penitentiaries฀were฀built฀using฀blueprints฀inspired฀by,฀but฀not฀rigorously฀ modelled฀after,฀Jeremy฀Bentham’s฀‘panopticon’.฀Instead฀of฀the฀circular฀pavilion฀ with฀an฀observatory฀tower฀in฀the฀centre,฀which฀would฀allow฀the฀constant฀and฀ total฀surveillance฀of฀all฀inmates฀that฀Bentham฀had฀planned,฀these฀buildings฀consisted฀of฀lengthy฀rectangular฀pavilions฀with฀cell฀rows฀on฀both฀sides,฀emanating฀ from฀a฀central฀point฀‘like฀radii฀from฀a฀common฀centre’.12฀Second,฀the฀construction฀of฀these฀penitentiaries,฀although฀publicised฀as฀a฀major฀turning฀point฀in฀each฀ state’s฀efforts฀to฀both฀control฀crime฀and฀reform฀prisoners,฀was฀not฀followed฀by฀ the฀implementation฀of฀similar฀changes฀in฀the฀rest฀of฀each฀country’s฀prison฀systems.฀For฀many฀decades,฀in฀fact,฀each฀of฀those฀penitentiaries฀would฀be฀the฀only฀ such฀modern฀penal฀institution฀in฀an฀otherwise฀‘pre-modern’฀or฀unreformed฀archipelago฀of฀institutions฀of฀confi฀nement.฀Therefore฀their฀impact฀was฀exceedingly฀ small฀despite฀the฀high฀hopes฀that฀reformers฀had฀placed฀on฀them.฀Since฀each฀of฀ these฀institutions฀hosted฀only฀a฀few฀hundred฀inmates,฀between฀300฀and฀500฀in฀ average,฀the฀impact฀of฀the฀penitentiary฀reform฀over฀the฀entire฀inmate฀population฀ was฀rather฀limited.฀Third,฀these฀early฀Latin฀American฀penitentiaries฀confronted฀ serious฀ and฀ recurrent฀ fi฀nancial฀ and฀ administrative฀ obstacles.฀They฀ were฀ invariably฀and฀severely฀criticised฀for฀not฀delivering฀on฀their฀promises฀of฀hygiene,฀humanitarianism฀and฀effi฀ciency฀to฀combat฀crime฀and฀regenerate฀prisoners.฀Lack฀of฀ resources฀was฀paramount,฀overcrowding฀marred฀the฀experiments฀from฀the฀very฀ beginning,฀and฀the฀mixing฀of฀prisoners฀of฀different฀ages,฀legal฀conditions,฀degrees฀ of฀dangerousness฀and฀even฀sexes฀became฀standard฀practice.฀Abuse฀against฀inmates฀ betrayed฀the฀promises฀of฀humanitarian฀treatment,฀and฀economic฀shortages฀prevented฀prison฀authorities฀from฀delivering฀adequate฀food,฀health฀care,฀education฀ and฀ employment฀ to฀ the฀ inmate฀ populations.฀While฀ they฀ offered฀ more฀ secure฀ conditions฀ of฀ incarceration,฀ enforced฀ daily฀ routines฀ on฀ inmates,฀ and฀ exercised฀ a฀degree฀of฀control฀over฀prisoners฀that฀was฀virtually฀unimaginable฀in฀non-reformed฀gaols฀and฀prisons,฀they฀still฀came฀short฀of฀their฀builders’฀promises. One฀critical฀aspect฀of฀these฀penitentiaries฀was฀the฀implementation฀of฀labour฀ regimes฀that,฀following฀the฀original฀blueprint,฀were฀seen฀as฀both฀conducive฀to฀ the฀inmates’฀regeneration฀and฀a฀source฀of฀revenues฀to฀help฀fi฀nance฀the฀huge฀costs฀ of฀maintaining฀such฀institutions.฀Prison฀work฀was฀not฀absent฀in฀non-reformed฀ gaols฀and฀prisons,฀but฀it฀was฀usually฀performed฀on฀an฀ad฀hoc฀and฀informal฀basis.฀ ad฀hoc Penitentiaries฀were฀explicitly฀designed฀to฀include฀work฀as฀a฀central฀component฀ of฀the฀prison฀therapy.฀Shoemaking,฀carpentry,฀printing฀and฀other฀workshops฀were฀ set฀ up,฀ either฀ under฀ the฀ direct฀ control฀ of฀ prison฀ authorities฀ or฀ run฀ by฀ private฀ concessionaries.฀Penitentiary฀work฀became,฀in฀fact,฀one฀of฀the฀most฀distinctive฀ aspects฀of฀daily฀life฀inside฀these฀reformed฀prisons,฀and฀many฀inmates฀welcomed฀ the฀ opportunity฀ to฀ earn฀ some฀ money,฀ while฀ authorities฀ and฀ private฀ entrepreneurs฀profi฀ted฀from฀it.฀Thus฀it฀also฀became฀a฀central฀component฀in฀the฀negotiation฀of฀prison฀rules฀and฀the฀boundaries฀of฀power฀between฀and฀among฀inmates฀ and฀prison฀guards฀and฀authorities. At฀ the฀ heart฀ of฀ the฀ penitentiary฀ ideal,฀ as฀ developed฀ in฀ Europe฀ and฀ North฀ America,฀ was฀ the฀ notion฀ that฀ criminals฀ were฀ indeed฀ reformable,฀ that฀ society฀ had฀a฀debt฀with฀them฀(recognising฀the฀responsibility฀of฀social฀factors฀behind฀the฀ commission฀of฀crimes),฀and฀that฀reforming฀criminals฀was฀the฀best฀way฀of฀integrating฀ them฀ to฀ society฀ as฀ law-abiding฀ and฀ hard-working฀ citizens.฀ Moreover,฀ penitentiaries฀were฀imagined฀in฀the฀Western฀world฀as฀intrinsic฀to฀a฀liberal฀and฀ capitalist฀order.฀Prison฀time฀was฀thought฀of฀not฀only฀as฀a฀way฀of฀paying฀back฀ to฀society฀for฀the฀commission฀of฀a฀crime,฀but฀as฀a฀means฀to฀instil฀certain฀values฀ 20 ฀฀ Marcos฀Bretas,฀‘What฀the฀Eyes฀Can’t฀See:฀Stories฀from฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro’s฀prisons’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀ Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀p.฀104. 10 ฀฀ León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀II,฀p.฀429. 11 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀‘The฀Lima฀Penitentiary’,฀pp.฀61–3. 12 ฀฀ That฀is฀how฀Mariano฀Felipe฀Paz฀Soldán฀described฀the฀Lima฀penitentiary.฀Quoted฀in฀Aguirre,฀ ‘The฀Lima฀Penitentiary’,฀p.฀61.฀Benjamín฀Vicuña฀Mackenna฀described฀the฀Santiago฀penitentiary฀ in฀ similar฀ terms:฀‘seven฀ radii฀ isolated฀ from฀ the฀ building฀ that฀ depart฀ from฀ a฀ common฀ center.’฀ Quoted฀in฀León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀II,฀p.฀436.฀Probably฀the฀only฀Latin฀American฀ prison฀to฀be฀built฀following฀Bentham’s฀blueprint฀was฀the฀‘Presidio฀Modelo’฀in฀the฀Cuban฀Island฀ of฀Pinos;฀its฀fi฀rst฀circular฀pavilion฀opened฀in฀1928.฀See฀fi฀gure. 9 21 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Beyond฀the฀Penitentiary฀Model congruent฀with฀the฀liberal฀and฀capitalist฀order.฀As฀several฀authors฀have฀argued,฀ modern฀forms฀of฀punishment฀played฀a฀key฀role฀in฀the฀development฀of฀liberaldemocratic฀regimes:฀the฀penitentiary฀was,฀paradoxically,฀a฀central฀component฀of฀ the฀system฀of฀freedom฀and฀democracy฀implemented฀in฀Western฀societies฀since฀ the฀early฀nineteenth฀century.13฀In฀the฀rhetoric฀of฀Latin฀American฀prison฀reformers,฀ the฀ penitentiary฀ would฀ occupy฀ a฀ similar฀ place฀ in฀ the฀ process฀ of฀ building฀ liberal/democratic฀societies;฀they฀seem฀to฀have฀believed฀that฀they฀could฀become฀ ‘laboratories฀of฀virtue’฀in฀which฀the฀unruly฀masses฀would฀be฀trained฀to฀become฀ law-abiding฀citizens฀of฀their฀modern฀republics.฀But฀those฀hopes฀were฀shattered฀ by฀the฀prevalence฀of฀societal฀models฀that฀drastically฀diverged฀from฀those฀ideals.฀ Not฀only฀did฀these฀penitentiaries฀failed฀to฀deliver฀on฀their฀promises฀of฀humane฀ treatment;฀ they฀ were฀ in฀ fact฀ used฀ to฀ substantiate฀ a฀ social฀ order฀ in฀ which฀ the฀ political฀and฀social฀exclusion฀of฀large฀sectors฀of฀the฀population฀was฀one฀of฀its฀ cornerstones.฀As฀such,฀the฀early฀penitentiaries฀in฀Latin฀America฀came฀to฀symbolise฀the฀ambiguities฀and฀limitations฀of฀nineteenth-century฀liberal฀projects. Liberalism฀in฀Latin฀America,฀we฀must฀recall,฀was฀the฀hegemonic฀ideology฀of฀ Creole/mestizo฀states฀that,฀in฀countries฀such฀as฀Mexico฀or฀Peru,฀sustained฀quite฀ authoritarian฀and฀exclusionary฀socio-political฀regimes฀and฀deprived฀the฀majority฀of฀their฀indigenous฀and฀rural฀populations฀from฀basic฀citizenship฀rights.14฀In฀ countries฀ such฀ as฀ Chile฀ or฀Argentina฀ the฀ practices฀ and฀ rights฀ associated฀ with฀ political฀liberalism฀(freedom฀of฀press,฀voting฀rights,฀equality฀before฀the฀law฀and฀ the฀ like)฀ were฀ restricted฀ to฀ the฀ populations฀ living฀ in฀ urban฀ settings,฀ while฀ the฀ implementation฀of฀brutal฀forms฀of฀economic฀and฀social฀exclusion฀resulted฀in฀the฀ extermination฀ of฀ indigenous฀ populations฀ in฀ the฀ southern฀ territories.฀ In฀ Brazil฀ the฀permanence฀of฀both฀slavery฀and฀the฀monarchy฀precluded฀by฀defi฀nition฀the฀ implementation฀ of฀ punitive฀ regimes฀ aimed฀ at฀ crafting฀ virtuous฀ citizens.฀ In฀ all฀ these฀cases฀highly฀stratifi฀ed฀social฀and฀racial฀regimes฀served฀as฀the฀background฀in฀ which฀penitentiary฀reform฀was฀tried.฀The฀potential฀benefi฀ciaries฀of฀such฀reform฀ were฀usually฀seen฀as฀inherently฀inferior,฀barbarous฀and฀irreformable,฀not฀as฀future฀ law-abiding฀citizens฀with฀equal฀rights฀to฀their฀social฀superiors.฀What฀attracted฀ state฀ makers฀ to฀ the฀ penitentiary฀ model฀ was฀ not฀ the฀ penitentiary’s฀ promise฀ of฀ reforming฀ criminals฀ through฀ humanitarian฀ means,฀ but฀ its฀ much฀ more฀ tangible฀and฀feasible฀objective฀of฀strengthening฀existing฀mechanisms฀of฀control฀and฀ confi฀nement.฀That฀was,฀in฀fact,฀the฀way฀state฀makers฀usually฀conceived฀the฀‘modernity’฀of฀their฀social฀projects.15 Although฀ they฀ were฀ costly฀ endeavours฀ and,฀ at฀ least฀ among฀ certain฀ circles,฀ were฀embraced฀as฀major฀social฀achievements,฀let฀us฀not฀forget฀that฀the฀abovementioned฀cases฀of฀early฀penitentiary฀building฀were฀the฀exception฀within฀a฀socially-sanctioned฀ web฀ of฀ traditional฀ punitive฀ methods.฀ Besides฀ these฀ modern฀ penitentiaries฀ existed฀ a฀ network฀ of฀‘pre-modern’฀ gaols฀ and฀ private฀ institutions฀ (including฀religious฀ones)฀that฀hosted฀many฀more฀inmates฀and฀where฀the฀continuities฀with฀ancient,฀pre-enlightened฀forms฀of฀punishment฀were฀pervasive.฀Of฀ equal฀ importance฀ is฀ the฀ fact฀ that฀ existing฀ legal฀ provisions฀ and฀ practices฀ represented฀serious฀obstacles฀to฀the฀implementation฀of฀modern฀forms฀of฀punishment.฀ Due฀process฀was฀certainly฀a฀chimera,฀the฀lower฀classes฀lacked฀the฀protection฀of฀the฀ law,฀their฀access฀to฀legal฀representation฀was฀quite฀defi฀cient,฀corruption฀and฀abuse฀ were฀rampant฀in฀all฀instances฀of฀the฀process฀(from฀police฀arrest฀to฀incarceration),฀ and฀ a฀ huge฀ part฀ of฀ these฀ countries’฀ prison฀ networks฀ remained฀ unregulated฀ by฀ the฀state฀and฀usually฀even฀out฀of฀its฀sight.฀The฀private฀and฀arbitrary฀exercise฀of฀ justice฀and฀punishment฀remained,฀well฀into฀the฀second฀half฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀ century,฀ an฀ essential฀ component฀ of฀ the฀ societal฀ mechanisms฀ of฀ social฀ control. 22 ฀฀ See฀ especially฀Thomas฀ L.฀ Dumm,฀ Democracy฀ and฀ Punishment:฀ Disciplinary฀ origins฀ of฀ the฀ United฀ States,฀Madison,฀WI:฀University฀of฀Wisconsin฀Press,฀1987;฀and฀Michael฀Meranze,฀Laboratories฀of฀ Virtue:฀Punishment,฀revolution,฀and฀authority฀in฀Philadelphia,฀1760–1835,฀Chapel฀Hill,฀NC:฀University฀of฀North฀Carolina฀Press,฀1996. 14 ฀฀ Mallon,฀‘Indian฀Communities’,฀pp.฀44–6. 13 23 BEYOND฀THE฀PENITENTIARY฀MODEL Although฀the฀penitentiary฀model฀continued฀to฀attract฀the฀interest฀of฀policy฀makers฀ in฀ these฀ and฀ other฀ countries฀ for฀ decades฀ to฀ come—Mexico,฀ for฀ instance,฀ would฀inaugurate฀its฀fi฀rst฀penitentiary฀only฀in฀1900,฀and฀Cuba฀would฀do฀the฀same฀ in฀the฀1920s—a฀combination฀of฀pragmatic฀resignation฀and฀pessimism฀prevailed฀ in฀the฀attitudes฀of฀penal฀reformers฀and฀state฀makers฀during฀the฀fi฀nal฀decades฀of฀ the฀ nineteenth฀ century.฀ Given฀ the฀‘failures’฀ of฀ the฀ existing฀ prisons฀ to฀ impose฀ any฀degree฀of฀discipline฀over฀their฀inmates,฀most฀commentators฀demanded฀not฀ more฀humane฀but฀rather฀harsher฀punitive฀schemes.฀There฀was฀always฀a฀cluster฀of฀ academic฀writers฀(physicians,฀lawyers,฀criminologists)฀that฀criticised฀the฀state฀of฀ prisons฀and฀suggested฀reforms,฀but฀there฀was฀very฀little฀impetus฀on฀the฀part฀of฀ state฀makers฀to฀embark฀on฀costly฀and฀massive฀reform฀efforts.฀The฀introduction฀of฀ new฀foreign฀penal฀and฀criminological฀doctrines฀after฀the฀1870s—the฀reformatory฀model,฀positivist฀criminology—generated฀legal฀and฀scholarly฀debates฀and฀an฀ extensive฀literature,฀but฀very฀little฀change฀or฀improvement฀in฀the฀prison฀systems฀ ฀฀ Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre,฀‘The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary’,฀p.฀17;฀Alberto฀Flores฀Galindo,฀La฀tradición฀ autoritaria:฀Violencia฀y฀democracia฀en฀el฀Perú,฀Lima:฀Aprodeh/SUR,฀1999.฀ 15 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Beyond฀the฀Penitentiary฀Model of฀these฀countries.฀Legislation฀was฀usually฀passed฀to฀allow฀for฀the฀construction฀ of฀new฀facilities฀or฀to฀improve฀the฀existing฀ones,฀but฀in฀most฀cases฀those฀projects฀ were฀not฀implemented.฀The฀resort฀to฀traditional฀forms฀of฀punishment฀was฀extensive,฀as฀denounced฀by฀scores฀of฀scandalised฀commentators฀such฀as฀foreign฀visitors,฀ journalists฀and฀also฀prisoners฀themselves.฀It฀is฀a฀tedious฀exercise฀to฀read฀descriptions฀of฀such฀infamous฀gaols฀as฀Guadalupe฀in฀Lima,฀Belem฀in฀Mexico฀City,฀or฀ the฀Cárcel฀Pública฀in฀Santiago฀de฀Chile,฀where฀overcrowding,฀unhealthy฀conditions฀and฀despotism฀were฀compounded฀by฀state฀indifference฀towards฀the฀inmate฀ population.16 Within฀this฀context฀the฀prison฀system฀operated฀as฀another฀institutional฀setting฀ in฀which฀the฀eagerness฀of฀the฀élites฀to฀embrace฀‘modernity’฀was฀compounded฀ (and฀subverted)฀by฀their฀determination฀to฀maintain฀archaic฀forms฀of฀social,฀racial฀and฀labour฀control.฀On฀the฀one฀hand฀it฀could฀be฀said฀that฀prisons฀merely฀ attended฀the฀need฀to฀warehouse฀suspects฀and฀criminals฀in฀order฀to฀provide฀the฀ decent฀classes฀of฀society฀a฀certain฀measure฀of฀security;฀on฀the฀other฀hand฀prisons฀ reproduced฀and฀reinforced฀the฀authoritarian฀and฀exclusionary฀nature฀of฀these฀societies,฀thus฀becoming฀pieces฀of฀a฀larger฀scheme฀aimed฀at฀maintaining฀the฀social฀ order.฀While฀this฀is฀certainly฀true,฀the฀place฀of฀the฀prison฀within฀the฀larger฀social฀ projects฀being฀implemented฀in฀Latin฀America฀(authoritarian฀liberalism,฀integration฀into฀the฀world฀market,฀development฀of฀export฀economies,฀reinforcement฀of฀ the฀exclusion฀of฀Indians฀and฀blacks,฀and฀the฀promotion฀of฀European฀immigration฀to฀‘whiten’฀the฀population)฀was฀indeed฀relatively฀marginal.฀Why฀would฀that฀ be฀the฀case?฀Because฀the฀élites฀and฀the฀states฀they฀controlled฀had฀at฀their฀disposal฀ other฀mechanisms฀for฀insuring฀the฀reproduction฀of฀the฀social฀order.฀Incarceration฀ was฀indeed฀a฀relatively฀unimportant฀component฀of฀the฀economics฀of฀power฀in฀ most฀Latin฀American฀countries฀during฀the฀second฀half฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀ as฀illustrated฀by฀the฀cases฀of฀Mexico฀and฀Brazil. Mexico฀had฀reached฀an฀important฀degree฀of฀political฀stability฀by฀the฀middle฀ of฀ the฀ nineteenth฀ century,฀ at฀ least฀ in฀ comparison฀ with฀ the฀ chaotic฀ decades฀ of฀ the฀post฀independence฀period,฀thanks฀to฀a฀series฀of฀liberal฀administrations฀that฀ moved฀forward฀the฀concomitant฀processes฀of฀secularisation,฀institutional฀building,฀ economic฀ development,฀ and฀ the฀ extension฀ of฀ civic฀ rights฀ to฀ sizable฀ segments฀of฀its฀population.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀though,฀this฀very฀process฀of฀liberal฀state฀ consolidation฀opened฀the฀way฀to฀the฀continuation฀and฀strengthening฀of฀forms฀ of฀ economic฀ exploitation฀ and฀ labour฀ control฀ (debt฀ peonage,฀ land฀ deprivation,฀ servitude)฀ that฀ affected฀ large฀ sectors฀ of฀ the฀ rural฀ and฀ indigenous฀ populations.฀ After฀1876฀the฀liberal฀political฀order฀was฀shattered฀by฀the฀imposition฀of฀a฀longterm฀dictatorship฀led฀by฀General฀Porfi฀rio฀Díaz฀that฀lasted฀until฀1911.฀However,฀ liberal฀economic฀provisions—the฀destruction฀of฀communal฀land,฀the฀opening฀of฀ Mexico฀to฀foreign฀investment,฀and฀the฀developing฀of฀the฀export฀sector,฀among฀ others—were฀ forcefully฀ maintained฀ and฀ even฀ strengthened,฀ this฀ time฀ coupled฀ with฀the฀implementation฀of฀brutal฀social-฀and฀labour-control฀policies฀that฀targeted฀ the฀ indigenous฀ and฀ rural฀ populations.฀ Increased฀ rural฀ policing,฀ for฀ instance,฀helped฀consolidate฀a฀system฀of฀quasi-feudal฀servitude฀in฀which฀labour฀and฀ personal฀control฀were฀exercised฀by฀the฀landlord฀classes฀almost฀without฀limit.17 While฀ the฀ Porfi฀riato฀ proclaimed฀ its฀ modernity฀ by฀ embarking฀ on฀ the฀ construction฀of฀railroads฀in฀the฀countryside฀and฀boulevards฀and฀theatres฀in฀Mexico฀City,฀ it฀also฀worked฀to฀consolidate฀ancien฀régime฀social฀and฀labour฀structures.฀Within฀ ancien฀régime this฀context฀there฀was฀very฀little฀impetus฀to฀advance฀the฀cause฀of฀prison฀reform.฀ During฀most฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀in฀fact,฀the฀Mexican฀prison฀system— symbolised฀ by฀ the฀ infamous฀ Belem฀ gaol฀ in฀ Mexico฀ City—remained฀ as฀ rotten฀ and฀iniquitous฀as฀it฀had฀been฀during฀the฀colonial฀times.18฀Instead฀of฀striving฀for฀ a฀reformed฀prison฀system฀the฀Mexican฀élites฀resorted฀to฀quite฀oppressive฀punitive฀mechanisms฀such฀as฀the฀transportation฀of฀rateros฀(petty฀thieves)฀to฀the฀Valle฀ Nacional฀(National฀Valley)฀in฀the฀state฀of฀Oaxaca,฀where฀they฀were฀contracted฀ out฀to฀landowners,฀and฀from฀where,฀according฀to฀witnesses,฀they฀would฀never฀return.19฀The฀dramatic฀expansion฀of฀the฀system฀of฀debt฀peonage,฀with฀its฀economic฀ and฀punitive฀ingredients,฀exemplifi฀es฀the฀links฀between฀the฀Porfi฀rian฀modernisation฀project฀and฀the฀use฀of฀‘pre-modern’฀forms฀of฀social฀and฀labour฀control฀such฀ as฀servitude,฀enganche฀and฀transportation. 24 16 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀pp.฀101–4;฀Padilla฀Arroyo,฀De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri,฀pp.฀203–74;฀ León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀II,฀chapter฀7. 25 ฀฀ Friedrich฀ Katz,฀ La฀ servidumbre฀ agraria฀ en฀ México฀ en฀ la฀ época฀ porfi฀riana,฀ Mexico฀ City:฀ Secretaría฀ de฀Educación฀Pública,฀1976;฀Paul฀Vanderwood,฀Disorder฀and฀Progress:฀Bandits,฀police,฀and฀Mexican฀ development,฀Wilmington,฀DE:฀Scholarly฀Resources,฀1992. 18 ฀฀ Padilla฀Arroyo,฀De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri,฀pp.฀218–29;฀Laurence฀J.฀Rohlfes,฀‘Police฀and฀Penal฀Correction฀in฀Mexico฀City,฀1876–1911:฀A฀study฀of฀order฀and฀progress฀in฀Porfi฀rian฀Mexico’,฀PhD฀ thesis,฀Tulane฀University,฀1983,฀pp.฀204–11. 19 ฀฀ Rohlfes,฀‘Police฀ and฀ Penal฀ Correction’,฀ pp.฀ 256–63.฀The฀ verses฀ included฀ in฀ a฀ leafl฀et฀ entitled฀ ‘Tristísimas฀lamentaciones฀de฀un฀enganchado’฀(‘Saddest฀lamentations฀of฀an฀indentured฀worker’),฀ accompanied฀by฀an฀engraving฀by฀famous฀artist฀José฀Guadalupe฀Posada,฀stated฀that฀it฀was฀better฀ to฀be฀in฀the฀Belem฀gaol,฀‘eating฀beef฀broth฀and฀gamusa฀with฀coffee’,฀than฀at฀the฀Valle฀Nacional,฀ a฀testimony฀to฀the฀horrors฀of฀the฀latter฀as฀a฀destination฀for฀criminals.฀Reproduced฀in฀Patrick฀ Frank,฀Posada’s฀Broadsheets:฀Mexican฀popular฀imagery,฀1880–1910,฀Albuquerque,฀NM:฀University฀ of฀New฀Mexico฀Press,฀1998,฀p.฀44. 17 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Prisons฀and฀Other฀Centres฀of฀Confi฀nement฀for฀Women Brazil,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀had฀attained฀independence฀from฀Portugal฀in฀1822฀ through฀a฀skilful฀negotiation฀of฀social฀and฀political฀options฀that฀resulted฀in฀the฀ maintenance฀of฀both฀the฀monarchy฀and฀slavery฀as฀the฀cornerstones฀of฀Brazilian฀ society.฀Although฀liberal-minded฀reformers฀had฀been฀able฀to฀implement฀an฀array฀ of฀ policies฀ aimed฀ at฀ creating฀ a฀ modern฀ system฀ of฀ justice,฀ those฀ projects฀ were฀ bound฀to฀have฀little฀impact฀in฀a฀society฀organised฀along฀drastic฀socio-legal฀(free฀vs slave)฀and฀racial฀(white฀vs฀black)฀hierarchical฀lines.฀Policing฀and฀punitive฀methods,฀ as฀many฀scholars฀have฀emphasised,฀were฀geared฀fi฀rst฀and฀foremost฀to฀guarantee฀ the฀maintenance฀of฀the฀social,฀labour฀and฀racial฀order฀of฀which฀slavery฀was฀the฀ essential฀ factor.฀ Patterns฀ of฀ policing฀ and฀ arrest฀ in฀ coffee฀ and฀ sugar฀ production฀ areas฀refl฀ected฀the฀need฀to฀guarantee฀the฀supply฀of฀labour฀force฀and฀the฀social฀ control฀ of฀ the฀ slave฀ and฀ free฀ black฀ population.฀ Prisons฀ and฀ punishment฀ were฀ used,฀in฀this฀context,฀mainly฀as฀channels฀to฀promote฀the฀continuation฀of฀exportoriented,฀ slave-based฀ labour.20฀A฀ Brazilian฀ prison฀ reformer฀ blamed฀‘slavocracy’฀ (the฀slave-owning฀élite)฀for฀the฀slow฀pace฀of฀prison฀reform฀in฀Bahia,฀where฀the฀ private฀correction฀of฀slaves฀and฀other฀workers฀was฀the฀preferred฀punitive฀method฀ for฀both฀authorities฀and฀slave฀owners.21 As฀slavery,฀and฀thus฀the฀private฀exercise฀of฀power,฀began฀to฀decline฀and฀social฀ control฀ issues฀ became฀ more฀ pressing,฀ the฀ relatively฀ undeveloped฀ conditions฀ of฀ the฀Brazilian฀prison฀system฀made฀it฀necessary฀for฀the฀Brazilian฀state฀to฀seek฀other฀ alternatives฀to฀deal฀with฀the฀growing฀number฀of฀offenders,฀provide฀a฀minimum฀ of฀security฀to฀the฀urban฀propertied฀classes,฀and฀impose฀strict฀mechanisms฀of฀social฀control฀over฀the฀freed฀black฀population.฀The฀solution฀was฀to฀use฀the฀army฀as฀ a฀massive฀institution฀of฀social฀control.฀The฀army,฀in฀fact,฀became฀the฀single฀largest฀penal฀institution฀in฀Brazil฀during฀most฀of฀the฀second฀half฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀ century.฀Thousands฀of฀poor,฀mostly฀black฀suspects฀were฀forcefully฀drafted฀into฀ the฀army฀through฀impressment฀as฀a฀means฀of฀punishment฀for฀allegedly฀being฀in฀ violation฀of฀the฀law฀(although,฀as฀is฀evident,฀no฀judicial฀authority฀had฀convicted฀ them฀and฀the฀suspects฀had฀had฀no฀right฀to฀contest฀those฀allegations);฀in฀other฀ cases฀judges฀‘legally’฀sent฀petty฀offenders฀to฀serve฀in฀the฀army.฀‘Brazil’s฀underdeveloped฀penal฀system฀led฀administrators฀to฀depend฀on฀the฀army฀as฀an฀institution฀of฀penal฀justice’,฀states฀Peter฀Beattie,฀adding฀that฀‘the฀Brazilian฀army’s฀size,฀ its฀ share฀ of฀ national฀ budgets,฀ and฀ its฀ pre-eminent฀ role฀ in฀ the฀ management฀ of฀ government-legitimated฀violence฀made฀it฀the฀primary฀institutional฀bridge฀between฀the฀State฀and฀the฀“criminal”฀underworld.’22฀While,฀at฀its฀highest,฀the฀entire฀ prison฀system฀housed฀about฀10,000฀individuals,฀the฀army฀enlisted฀between฀8,000฀ and฀12,000฀men฀and฀adolescents฀that฀had฀been฀considered฀‘criminal’.฀At฀the฀very฀ least฀the฀army฀was฀responsible฀for฀about฀the฀same฀number฀of฀‘criminals’฀as฀the฀ entire฀Brazilian฀penal฀system.฀No฀wonder฀the฀Brazilian฀élites฀and฀state฀builders฀ showed฀little฀enthusiasm฀for฀developing฀a฀network฀of฀reformed฀carceral฀institutions.฀A฀social฀structure฀in฀which฀fi฀rst฀slavery฀and฀then฀coronelismo฀(bossism)฀were฀ the฀dominant฀forms฀of฀power฀was฀not฀conducive฀to฀the฀embracing฀of฀prison฀reform฀packages฀predicated฀on฀quite฀different฀social฀arrangements.23 26 PRISONS฀AND฀OTHER฀CENTRES฀OF฀CONFINEMENT฀FOR฀WOMEN Perhaps฀the฀only฀true฀penal฀innovation฀implemented฀in฀Latin฀American฀countries฀ during฀the฀second฀half฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀was฀the฀opening฀of฀femaleonly฀prisons฀and฀houses฀of฀correction.฀Female฀inmates฀had฀usually฀been฀secluded฀ in฀male-dominated฀gaols฀and฀prisons,฀which฀created฀obvious฀complications฀for฀ administrators฀and฀generated฀a฀number฀of฀abuses฀and฀problems฀for฀female฀inmates.฀The฀initiative฀to฀create฀centres฀of฀detention฀for฀women฀usually฀came฀not฀ from฀ state฀ offi฀cials฀ or฀ prison฀ reformers,฀ but฀ from฀ philanthropic฀ and฀ religious฀ groups.฀The฀Sisters฀of฀the฀Good฀Shepherd,฀a฀congregation฀that฀had฀been฀active฀ in฀the฀administration฀of฀prisons฀in฀France,฀Canada฀and฀other฀countries,฀began฀to฀ administer฀houses฀of฀correction฀for฀women฀in฀cities฀such฀as฀Santiago฀de฀Chile฀ (1857),฀Lima฀(1871)฀and฀Buenos฀Aires฀(1880)฀with฀the฀enthusiastic฀support฀of฀the฀ respective฀governments,฀eager฀to฀alleviate฀some฀of฀the฀tensions฀existing฀within฀ prisons฀and฀to฀free฀themselves฀from฀the฀responsibilities฀of฀building฀and฀administering฀female-only฀institutions฀of฀confi฀nement.฀Prevailing฀notions฀about฀how฀ to฀‘treat’฀women฀were฀also฀behind฀these฀decisions:฀according฀to฀standard฀interpretations,฀criminal฀women฀needed฀less฀of฀a฀militaristic฀structure฀and฀more฀of฀a฀ loving,฀maternal฀environment฀to฀be฀regenerated.฀Female฀criminals,฀as฀Lila฀Caimari฀suggests,฀‘were฀perceived฀as฀occasional฀criminals,฀victims฀of฀their฀own฀moral฀ weaknesses,฀which฀were฀most฀likely฀the฀result฀of฀irrationality฀and฀lack฀of฀intelligence.’24฀It฀is฀revealing฀that฀mid-nineteenth-century฀debates฀on฀prison฀reform฀ ฀฀ Beattie,฀The฀Tribute฀of฀Blood,฀pp.฀135–6. ฀฀ Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore,฀‘Penitentiaries,฀Visions฀of฀Class,฀and฀Export฀Economies:฀Brazil฀and฀Argentina฀compared’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀194–223. 24 ฀฀ Lila฀Caimari,฀‘Whose฀Criminals฀are฀These?฀Church,฀state,฀and฀Patronatos฀and฀the฀rehabilitation฀ of฀female฀convicts฀(Buenos฀Aires,฀1890–1940)’,฀The฀Americas,฀54,฀2฀(October฀1997),฀p.฀190;฀see฀ 22 ฀฀ Thomas฀Holloway,฀Policing฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro,฀Stanford฀University฀Press,฀1993;฀Martha฀K.฀Huggins,฀ From฀Slavery฀to฀Vagrancy฀in฀Brazil:฀Crime฀and฀social฀control฀in฀the฀Third฀World,฀New฀Brunswick,฀NJ:฀ Rutgers฀University฀Press,฀1985. 21 ฀฀ Quoted฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre,฀‘The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary’,฀p.฀16. 20 27 23 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America The฀Era฀of฀Scientifi฀c฀Penology that฀led฀to฀the฀building฀of฀penitentiaries,฀or฀those฀on฀criminality฀as฀informed฀by฀ positivist฀doctrines฀after฀1870,฀did฀not฀take฀the฀issues฀of฀both฀female฀criminality฀ and฀female฀imprisonment฀seriously.฀The฀usually฀low฀numbers฀of฀female฀criminals฀ and฀inmates฀seem฀to฀have฀convinced฀prison฀reformers฀and฀criminologists฀that฀ there฀was฀no฀need฀for฀concern฀in฀that฀regard. The฀states฀generally฀took฀a฀‘hands-off ’฀approach฀regarding฀these฀and฀other฀institutions฀of฀confi฀nement฀for฀women.฀They฀functioned฀as฀semi-autonomous฀entities฀not฀subject฀to฀state฀regulation฀or฀monitoring฀and฀clearly฀violated฀the฀law฀by฀ allowing฀the฀seclusion฀of฀women฀(wives,฀daughters฀or฀servants)฀without฀a฀judicial฀ mandate.฀ Despite฀ intermittent฀ protests—from฀ the฀ victims฀ of฀ these฀ detentions,฀ some฀of฀their฀relatives฀or฀independent฀observers—most฀of฀these฀institutions฀of฀ confi฀nement฀continued฀to฀operate฀on฀the฀margins฀of฀the฀legal฀carceral฀system.฀ These฀ institutions,฀ that฀ we฀ could฀ generically฀ call฀‘houses฀ of฀ deposit’,฀ included฀ not฀only฀prisons฀for฀indicted฀or฀convicted฀women,฀but฀also฀correctional฀facilities฀ that฀hosted฀the฀wives,฀daughters,฀sisters฀and฀servants฀of฀upper-฀and฀middle-class฀ men฀who฀wanted฀to฀punish,฀or฀give฀a฀warning฀to,฀allegedly฀wayward฀women฀and฀ adolescent฀ girls.25฀ Strict฀ hierarchical฀ rules฀ permeated฀ the฀ relationship฀ between฀ nuns฀and฀inmates฀in฀these฀institutions,฀and฀there฀was฀always฀a฀tendency฀on฀the฀ part฀of฀the฀Sisters฀to฀try฀to฀prevent฀these฀inmates฀from฀going฀back฀to฀the฀‘world’฀ to฀face฀all฀kinds฀of฀risks฀and฀challenges.฀The฀notion฀that฀the฀‘female฀character’฀ was฀weaker฀than฀that฀of฀men,฀and฀the฀idea฀that฀women฀needed฀protection฀against฀ mundane฀temptations฀and฀threats,฀were฀pervasive฀among฀both฀state฀and฀religious฀ authorities. Prisons฀ and฀ houses฀ of฀ correction฀ for฀ women฀ followed฀ the฀ house-convent฀ model:฀inmates฀were฀purportedly฀treated฀as฀wayward฀sisters฀needing฀not฀harsh฀ punishment฀but฀loving฀care฀and฀good฀examples.฀Praying฀and฀menial฀work฀were฀ conceived฀ as฀ fundamental฀ in฀ the฀ process฀ of฀ regeneration฀ for฀ female฀ offenders.฀ Inmates฀ were฀ put฀ to฀ work฀ in฀ trades฀‘proper’฀ to฀ their฀ sex฀ (sewing,฀ laundering,฀ handicrafts฀and฀cooking)฀and,฀when฀feasible,฀were฀released฀to฀work฀as฀domestic฀ servants฀in฀the฀houses฀of฀decent,฀upper-class฀families,฀so฀as฀to฀complete฀their฀‘regeneration’฀under฀the฀close฀surveillance฀of฀their฀employers.26 Although฀there฀were฀voices฀opposed฀to฀the฀state’s฀yielding฀of฀its฀authority฀in฀ favour฀of฀religious฀orders,฀most฀female฀inmates฀served฀their฀prison฀times฀under฀ the฀surveillance฀and฀spiritual฀and฀moral฀guidance฀of฀religious฀sisters.฀Beginning฀ in฀the฀1920s฀the฀states฀gradually฀began฀to฀exercise฀greater฀authority฀over฀female฀ prisoners,฀but฀sometimes฀even฀these฀state-run฀prisons฀for฀women฀were฀put฀under฀ the฀administration฀of฀religious฀orders.฀The฀discussion฀as฀to฀‘whose฀criminals฀are฀ these’฀would฀continue฀way฀into฀the฀second฀half฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century. 28 also฀María฀Soledad฀Zárate,฀‘Vicious฀Women,฀Virtuous฀Women:฀The฀female฀delinquent฀and฀the฀ Santiago฀de฀Chile฀Correctional฀House,฀1860–1900’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀ of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀78–100,฀and฀María฀José฀Correa฀Gómez,฀‘Demandas฀penitenciarias:฀Discusión฀y฀reforma฀de฀las฀cárceles฀de฀mujeres฀en฀Chile฀(1930–1950)’,฀Historia฀(Santiago฀de฀Chile),฀ 38,฀1฀(2005),฀pp.฀9–30;฀Carlos฀Aguirre,฀‘Mujeres฀delincuentes,฀prácticas฀penales,฀y฀servidumbre฀ doméstica฀en฀Lima,฀1862–1930’฀in฀Scarlett฀O’Phelan฀et฀al.฀(comp.),฀Familia฀y฀Vida฀Cotidiana฀en฀ América฀ Latina,฀ Siglos฀ XVIII–XX XVIII–XX,฀ Lima:฀ IFEA/Instituto฀ Riva฀Agüero/Pontifi฀cia฀ Universidad฀ Católica,฀2003,฀pp.฀203–26. 25 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀‘Mujeres฀delincuentes’;฀Kristin฀Ruggiero,฀‘“Houses฀of฀Deposit”฀and฀the฀Exclusion฀of฀ Women฀in฀Turn-of-the-Century฀Argentina’฀in฀Carolyn฀Strange฀and฀Alison฀Bashford฀(eds),฀Isolation:฀Places฀and฀practices฀of฀exclusion,฀New฀York:฀Routledge,฀2003,฀pp.฀119–32. 29 THE฀ERA฀OF฀SCIENTFIC฀PENOLOGY Around฀ the฀ turn฀ of฀ the฀ twentieth฀ century฀ some฀ important฀ developments฀ in฀ prison฀design,฀administration฀and฀functioning฀took฀place฀in฀several฀countries฀in฀ Latin฀America,฀all฀of฀them฀in฀one฀way฀or฀another฀resulting฀from฀the฀increased฀ incorporation฀of฀the฀region฀into฀the฀international฀economy฀and฀the฀strong,฀albeit฀ still฀ambiguous,฀move฀towards฀capitalist฀modernisation.฀By฀the฀end฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀the฀last฀Spanish฀colonies฀(Cuba฀and฀Puerto฀Rico)฀had฀attained฀ their฀independence฀(only฀to฀become฀territories฀under฀US฀control,฀though),฀the฀ last฀slave฀societies฀(Cuba฀and฀Brazil)฀had฀abolished฀slavery,฀and฀export฀economies฀were฀fl฀ourishing฀almost฀everywhere,฀from฀Mexico฀and฀Central฀America฀to฀ Chile฀and฀Argentina,฀with฀several฀visible฀effects฀on฀patterns฀of฀economic฀development,฀labour฀relations,฀urbanisation฀and฀both฀internal฀and฀international฀migration.฀Latin฀American฀élites฀were฀more฀optimistic฀than฀ever฀about฀the฀potential฀ for฀transforming฀their฀societies฀into฀modern฀and฀civilised฀countries,฀but฀they฀still฀ had฀to฀deal฀with฀a฀perceived฀major฀hindrance:฀the฀presence฀of฀large฀segments฀ of฀ the฀ population฀ living฀ outside฀ the฀ law,฀ unwilling฀ to฀ accept฀ the฀ invitation฀ to฀ behave฀in฀‘civilised’฀ways,฀and฀not฀quite฀integrated฀into฀the฀export-oriented฀and฀ capitalist฀economic฀boom.฀As฀it฀happened,฀most฀of฀them฀were฀also฀dark-skinned,฀ which฀added฀to฀the฀anxieties฀of฀Europeanised฀élites฀in฀whose฀imaginations฀only฀ a฀‘whiter’฀population฀could฀in฀fact฀bring฀their฀countries฀into฀civilisation.฀What฀to฀ do฀with฀these฀populations—whether฀or฀not฀they฀would฀or฀should฀be฀included฀as฀ part฀of฀the฀national฀community—was฀the฀central฀question฀that฀intellectuals฀and฀ state฀makers฀debated฀as฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀wound฀down.27 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀‘Mujeres฀delincuentes’,฀pp.฀219–20. ฀฀ For฀a฀sample฀of฀studies฀about฀these฀debates฀in฀different฀countries฀of฀Latin฀America฀see฀Tulio฀ Halperin฀Donghi฀(ed.),฀Sarmiento:฀Author฀of฀a฀nation,฀Berkeley,฀CA:฀University฀of฀California฀Press,฀ 26 27 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America The฀Era฀of฀Scientifi฀c฀Penology Criminology฀as฀a฀new฀fi฀eld฀of฀scientifi฀c฀inquiry฀began฀to฀fl฀ourish฀in฀most฀ countries฀ of฀ Latin฀ America฀ precisely฀ at฀ that฀ conjuncture,฀ around฀ the฀ 1880s,฀ promising฀to฀yield฀both฀explanations฀and฀solutions฀to฀criminal฀behaviour,฀but฀ also฀critically฀addressing,฀as฀Robert฀Buffi฀ngton฀among฀others฀has฀convincingly฀ argued฀for฀the฀case฀of฀Mexico,฀central฀questions฀of฀nationhood฀and฀citizenship.28 Lombrosian฀notions฀about฀the฀‘born฀criminal’฀were฀amply฀discussed฀and฀generally฀dismissed,฀but฀other฀tenets฀of฀positivist฀criminology—the฀connections฀between฀crime฀and฀race,฀inheritance฀and฀mental฀illness,฀for฀example—were฀more฀ favourably฀received฀by฀late-nineteenth-century฀Latin฀American฀criminologists.฀ As฀several฀studies฀have฀demonstrated,฀the฀way฀in฀which฀criminologists฀merged฀ race฀and฀crime฀in฀their฀analysis฀of฀social฀deviance฀both฀refl฀ected฀and฀reproduced฀ the฀long-held฀notion฀that฀non-white฀groups฀were฀more฀likely฀to฀act฀criminally฀ and฀more฀diffi฀cult฀to฀reform฀than฀the฀white฀(or฀whiter)฀populations.29 One฀of฀the฀most฀common฀formulations฀proposed฀by฀Latin฀American฀criminologists—again,฀borrowing฀from฀similar฀debates฀in฀Europe—was฀the฀so-called฀ ‘social฀question’,฀a฀pressing฀social฀predicament฀resulting฀from฀the฀combination฀of฀ urban฀criminality,฀disease,฀poverty฀and฀political฀and฀social฀unrest฀that฀threatened,฀ in฀the฀perception฀of฀élite฀observers,฀the฀integrity฀of฀the฀nation฀and฀the฀continuation฀of฀economic฀growth.฀These฀perceived฀threats฀brought฀to฀the฀forefront฀debates฀about฀crime,฀social฀disorder฀and฀punishment฀that฀were฀generally฀informed฀ by฀positivism—recently฀imported฀from฀Europe฀and฀widely฀adopted฀among฀intellectual,฀legal฀and฀scientifi฀c฀circles฀in฀most฀Latin฀American฀countries—which฀ attracted฀ the฀ sympathies฀ of฀ the฀ majority฀ of฀ penal฀ reformers฀ and฀ state฀ makers.฀ Positivism,฀in฀fact,฀was฀used฀to฀propose฀and฀sustain฀quite฀different฀socio-political฀ regimes,฀which฀speaks฀about฀its฀ambiguities฀and฀adaptability.฀Regimes฀as฀diverse฀ as฀the฀Porfi฀riato฀in฀Mexico฀(1876–1911),฀the฀Oncenio฀of฀Augusto฀Leguía฀in฀Peru฀ (1919–30),฀the฀restricted฀parliamentary฀democracies฀of฀early-twentieth-century฀ Argentina฀and฀Chile,฀the฀pro-US฀dictatorship฀of฀Gerardo฀Machado฀in฀Cuba฀and฀ even฀the฀post-revolutionary฀Mexican฀state฀each฀borrowed฀heavily฀from฀positivism฀in฀their฀approach฀to฀government,฀population฀management,฀education,฀the฀ promotion฀of฀different฀forms฀of฀racialised฀policies฀and฀efforts฀at฀crime฀control.30 State฀policies฀informed฀by฀positivism฀shared฀the฀same฀impulse฀towards฀searching฀for฀scientifi฀c฀solutions฀to฀social฀problems,฀a฀deep-seated฀confi฀dence฀in฀the฀ superiority฀of฀Western฀societal฀models฀and,฀more฀ambiguous,฀a฀belief฀in฀the฀hierarchical฀nature฀of฀racial฀divisions.฀Legal฀codes฀began฀to฀incorporate฀the฀tenets฀ of฀penal฀positivism—indeterminate฀sentence,฀the฀notion฀of฀dangerousness,฀the฀ individualised฀treatment฀of฀the฀criminal—even฀if฀they฀were฀not฀always฀immediately฀translated฀into฀judicial฀practice.31฀Medical฀language฀and฀forms฀of฀diagnosis฀ began฀to฀be฀widely฀used฀in฀both฀academic฀debates฀and฀state฀practices—including฀not฀only฀the฀criminal฀justice฀system,฀but฀also฀education,฀health฀and฀military฀ reform,฀to฀name฀but฀a฀few฀areas฀of฀state฀intervention—to฀the฀extent฀that฀some฀ scholars฀have฀spoken฀about฀the฀emergence฀of฀a฀‘medico-legal฀state’.32 Between฀ roughly฀ 1900฀ and฀ 1930฀ scientifi฀c฀ criminology฀ and฀ penology฀ had฀ its฀ heyday฀ in฀ Latin฀America.฀ Science฀ and,฀ quite฀ prominently,฀ medicine฀ began฀ to฀inform฀the฀design฀of฀prison฀regimes,฀the฀implementation฀of฀prison฀therapies฀ and฀the฀evaluation฀of฀inmates’฀behaviour.฀Medical฀and฀criminological฀journals,฀ university฀theses,฀international฀conferences฀and,฀especially,฀the฀implementation฀of฀ research฀facilities฀inside฀prisons฀offered฀the฀spectacle฀of฀scientifi฀c,฀intellectual฀and฀ social฀élites฀eager฀to฀study฀the฀‘social฀problem’฀of฀crime฀and฀put฀forward฀solutions฀ that,฀because฀they฀were฀produced฀in฀the฀name฀of฀science,฀were฀expected฀to฀be฀ embraced฀by฀society฀at฀large.฀Positivist฀criminology฀had฀a฀visible,฀but฀still฀uneven฀ and฀ambiguous,฀impact฀on฀the฀prison฀systems฀in฀a฀number฀of฀countries฀in฀the฀ 1994;฀Mónica฀Quijada฀et฀al.,฀Homogeneidad฀y฀Nación.฀Con฀un฀estudio฀de฀caso:฀Argentina,฀siglos฀XIX฀ y฀XX,฀Madrid:฀Consejo฀Superior฀de฀Investigaciones฀Científi฀cas,฀2000;฀Mark฀Thurner,฀From฀Two฀ y฀XX Republics฀to฀One฀Divided:฀Contradictions฀of฀post-colonial฀nationmaking฀in฀Andean฀Peru,฀Durham,฀NC:฀ Duke฀ University฀ Press,฀ 1997;฀ Florencia฀ Mallon,฀ Peasant฀ and฀ Nation:฀The฀ making฀ of฀ postcolonial฀ Mexico฀and฀Peru,฀Berkeley,฀CA:฀University฀of฀California฀Press,฀1995;฀Ada฀Ferrer,฀Insurgent฀Cuba:฀ Race,฀nation,฀and฀revolution,฀Chapel฀Hill,฀NC:฀University฀of฀North฀Carolina฀Press,฀1999;฀and฀Larson,฀Trials฀of฀Nation-making. 28 ฀฀ Robert฀Buffi฀ngton,฀Criminal฀and฀Citizen฀in฀Modern฀Mexico,฀Lincoln,฀NE:฀University฀of฀Nebraska฀ Press,฀2000. 29 ฀฀ Salvatore,฀‘Penitentiaries’,฀pp.฀204–5;฀Carlos฀Aguirre,฀‘Crime,฀Race,฀and฀Morals:฀The฀development฀ of฀ criminology฀ in฀ Peru฀ (1890–1930)’,฀ Crime,฀ History,฀ Societies,฀ 2,฀ 2฀ (1998),฀ pp.฀ 73–90;฀ Buffi฀ngton,฀Criminal฀and฀Citizen,฀chapter฀7;฀Piccato,฀City฀of฀Suspects:฀Crime฀in฀Mexico฀City,฀1900– 1931,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2001,฀p.฀58. 30 30 31 ฀฀ For฀Mexico,฀see฀Buffi฀ngton,฀Criminal฀and฀Citizen;฀for฀Cuba,฀Alejandra฀Bronfman,฀Measures฀of฀ Equality:฀Social฀science,฀citizenship,฀and฀race฀in฀Cuba,฀1902–1940,฀Chapel฀Hill,฀NC:฀University฀of฀ North฀Carolina฀Press,฀2004;฀for฀Peru,฀Carl฀Herbold,฀‘Developments฀of฀the฀Peruvian฀Administrative฀System,฀1919–1939:฀Modern฀and฀traditional฀qualities฀of฀government฀under฀authoritarian฀ regimes’,฀Ph.D.฀dissertation,฀Yale฀University,฀1973;฀for฀Argentina,฀Ricardo฀Salvatore,฀‘Positivist฀ Criminology฀ and฀ State฀ Formation฀ in฀ Modern฀Argentina฀ (1890–1940)’฀ in฀ Peter฀ Becker฀ and฀ Richard฀ F.฀Wetzell฀ (eds),฀ Criminals฀ and฀Their฀ Scientists:฀The฀ history฀ of฀ criminology฀ in฀ international฀ perspective,฀New฀York:฀Cambridge฀University฀Press,฀2006,฀pp.฀253–80. 31 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀pp.฀53–60;฀Elisa฀Speckman฀Guerra,฀Crimen฀y฀castigo:฀Legislación฀ penal,฀interpretaciones฀de฀la฀criminalidad฀y฀administración฀de฀justicia฀(Ciudad฀de฀Mexico,฀1872–1910),฀ Mexico฀City:฀El฀Colegio฀de฀Mexico/UNAM,฀2002,฀pp.฀93–105;฀Buffi฀ngton,฀Criminal฀and฀Citizen,฀pp.฀120–3. 32 ฀฀ Salvatore,฀‘Positivist฀Criminology’,฀p.฀254. Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America The฀Era฀of฀Scientifi฀c฀Penology region.฀Two฀cases฀stand฀out฀as฀examples฀of฀these฀developments:฀the฀penitentiaries฀ of฀Buenos฀Aires,฀Argentina฀and฀São฀Paulo,฀Brazil฀(later฀renamed฀as฀‘Institute฀of฀ Regeneration’).฀The฀ former,฀ under฀ the฀ leadership฀ of฀ renowned฀ criminologists฀ Antonio฀Ballvé฀and฀José฀Ingenieros,฀was฀transformed฀into฀a฀massive฀research฀facility฀in฀which฀experts฀in฀medicine,฀public฀health,฀psychiatry,฀anthropology,฀psychology฀and฀criminology฀conducted฀research฀and฀produced฀a฀number฀of฀studies฀ that฀would฀offer฀valuable฀insights฀into฀a฀number฀of฀social฀issues,฀not฀just฀criminality.฀Positivism฀guided฀these฀efforts.฀As฀Ricardo฀Salvatore฀has฀argued,฀‘positivism฀provided฀the฀ruling฀élite฀with฀the฀institutional฀spaces,฀the฀technologies฀of฀ power,฀and฀the฀rhetoric฀needed฀to฀exercise฀power฀more฀effectively฀in฀the฀period฀ of฀transition฀toward฀a฀more฀democratic฀republic.’฀Within฀that฀scheme,฀the฀penitentiary฀of฀Buenos฀Aires฀and,฀more฀precisely,฀its฀Institute฀of฀Criminology,฀came฀ to฀play฀a฀crucial฀role.33฀In฀Brazil฀a฀similar฀role฀was฀played฀by฀the฀Institute฀of฀Regeneration฀of฀São฀Paulo,฀formed฀in฀1914฀after฀a฀complete฀renovation฀of฀the฀São฀ Paulo฀penitentiary.฀A฀massive฀building฀resembling฀the฀architectural฀model฀of฀the฀ panopticon,฀it฀contained฀a฀prestigious฀anthropometrical฀institute฀where฀research฀ was฀ conducted฀ using฀ inmates฀ as฀ subjects.฀ For฀ criminologists฀ and฀ penologists฀ elsewhere฀in฀Latin฀America,฀the฀Institute฀of฀Regeneration฀was฀a฀source฀of฀both฀ envy฀ and฀ pride.34฀ Similar฀ research฀ facilities฀ were฀ created฀ in฀ various฀ prisons฀ throughout฀the฀region.35 These฀and฀other฀prisons฀thus฀became฀not฀only฀deposits฀of฀inmates฀and฀(allegedly)฀places฀for฀repentance฀and฀reform,฀but฀also฀sites฀for฀the฀production฀of฀ knowledge฀ about฀ those฀ inmates.฀They฀ were฀ constantly฀ visited฀ by฀ physicians,฀ doctors,฀ psychiatrists฀ and฀ anthropologists฀ in฀ search฀ of฀ primary฀ materials฀ with฀ which฀to฀offer฀interpretations฀about฀criminals฀and฀the฀social฀question.฀Pioneering฀criminological฀studies฀conducted฀by฀Julio฀Guerrero฀and฀Carlos฀Roumagnac฀ in฀Mexico,฀Nina฀Rodrigues฀in฀Brazil,฀Fernando฀Ortiz฀and฀Israel฀Castellanos฀in฀ Cuba฀ and฀Abraham฀ Rodríguez฀ in฀ Peru฀ were฀ all฀ based฀ on฀ research฀ conducted฀ inside฀the฀prisons.฀Even฀if฀the฀outcome฀of฀their฀research฀was฀not฀always฀original,฀ scientifi฀cally฀sound฀(even฀by฀the฀standards฀of฀that฀era)฀or฀particularly฀relevant,฀ the฀production฀of฀knowledge฀based฀on฀prison฀research฀did฀have฀an฀impact฀on฀ the฀ways฀in฀which฀the฀social฀and฀political฀élites฀viewed฀the฀‘social฀question’฀and฀ tried฀to฀address฀the฀challenges฀that฀modernisation฀presented฀to฀their฀strategies฀of฀ governance.฀Although฀it฀is฀diffi฀cult฀to฀summarise฀the฀highly฀dissimilar฀production฀of฀these฀researchers,฀which฀in฀turn฀refl฀ected฀the฀variety฀of฀social,฀political,฀ cultural฀and฀racial฀settings฀in฀which฀their฀work฀was฀being฀conducted,฀there฀are฀ a฀few฀common฀elements฀that฀surface฀from฀their฀work:฀1)฀they฀posited,฀with฀different฀emphases,฀a฀combination฀of฀biological,฀cultural฀and฀social฀factors฀behind฀ criminal฀ behaviour;฀ 2)฀ they฀ identifi฀ed฀ specifi฀c฀ groups฀ of฀ individuals฀ that฀ were฀ considered฀‘dangerous’,฀when฀not฀inborn฀criminals,฀and฀who฀were฀usually฀members฀of฀the฀poor,฀uneducated฀and฀non-white฀social฀groups;฀3)฀political฀doctrines฀ such฀as฀anarchism฀and฀socialism฀were฀considered฀dangerous฀sources฀of฀unrest฀and฀ violence,฀and฀thus฀also฀potential฀sources฀of฀criminal฀behaviour;฀4)฀they฀offered฀ solutions฀to฀crime฀and฀the฀social฀question฀that฀included฀more฀intrusive฀forms฀ of฀state฀intervention฀such฀as฀compulsory฀education,฀urban฀reforms฀and฀various฀ types฀of฀eugenicist฀proposals;฀and฀5)฀many฀of฀them฀suggested฀that฀the฀assimilation฀of฀Indians฀and฀blacks฀and฀not฀their฀extermination฀(as฀previous฀evolutionary฀ theories฀had฀suggested)฀was฀the฀desired฀path฀to฀build฀more฀inclusive฀but฀still฀hierarchically-ordered฀national฀communities.฀From฀elaborations฀on฀crime฀to฀ambitious฀proposals฀for฀social฀engineering฀and฀nation฀building,฀the฀work฀of฀positivist฀ researchers฀was฀probably฀the฀most฀important฀contribution฀of฀this฀era฀of฀scientifi฀c฀ penology฀in฀Latin฀America. This฀era฀also฀brought฀about—and฀for฀the฀last฀time—a฀period฀of฀relative฀optimism฀in฀the฀implementation฀of฀prison฀reform฀packages;฀this฀time,฀however,฀the฀ notion฀of฀the฀‘regeneration’฀of฀the฀criminal฀as฀the฀main฀goal฀was฀somehow฀overshadowed฀ by฀ the฀ goal฀ of฀ transforming฀ prisons฀ into฀ well-administered฀ institutions.฀In฀other฀words,฀the฀‘reform฀of฀prisons’฀superseded,฀but฀did฀not฀completely฀ suppress,฀the฀‘reform฀of฀prisoners’฀as฀the฀main฀objective฀of฀penal฀reformers.฀The฀ optimism฀seems฀to฀have฀come฀mostly฀from฀the฀policy-makers’฀confi฀dence฀in฀the฀ ability฀of฀the฀state฀to฀effectively฀implement฀its฀mandates.฀The฀belief฀in฀the฀power฀ of฀science฀to฀generate฀knowledge฀about,฀and฀solutions฀to,฀a฀wide฀array฀of฀social฀ problems,฀including฀crime฀and฀criminal฀behaviour,฀infused฀the฀policies฀of฀both฀ stronger฀and฀wealthier฀states.฀If฀anything,฀the฀era฀of฀scientifi฀c฀penology฀produced฀ an฀increasing฀intrusion฀of฀the฀states฀into฀the฀daily฀lives฀of฀prisoners,฀as฀it฀did฀into฀ the฀lives฀of฀subaltern฀groups฀more฀generally. The฀implementation฀of฀research฀facilities฀inside฀prisons฀was฀in฀fact฀conceived฀ as฀part฀of฀ambitious฀packages฀that฀included,฀among฀other฀reforms,฀building฀more฀ and฀larger฀prisons,฀regulating฀and฀improving฀prison฀work,฀creating฀bureaus฀for฀ the฀constant฀evaluation฀of฀prisoners,฀and฀centralising฀the฀administration฀of฀prisons฀under฀a฀single฀state฀agency.฀Techniques฀of฀identifi฀cation฀and฀recording฀(the฀ use฀of฀photographs,฀ID฀cards,฀biographical฀databases฀and฀dactyloscopic฀methods)฀ 32 ฀฀ Ibid. ฀฀ Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre,฀‘The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary’,฀pp.฀9–10. 35 ฀฀ Nydia฀Cruz,฀‘Reclusión,฀control฀social,฀y฀ciencia฀penitenciaria฀en฀Puebla฀en฀el฀siglo฀XIX’,฀Siglo฀ XIX:฀Revista฀de฀Historia,฀12฀(1992);฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀pp.฀98–9. 33 34 33 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Daily฀Life฀and฀Prisoners’฀Agency were฀widely฀implemented฀from฀at฀least฀the฀1880s.36฀The฀so-called฀Vucetich฀system฀epitomises฀the฀successes฀and฀hopes฀of฀this฀era฀of฀scientifi฀c฀and฀technological฀ progress฀in฀crime฀control฀methods.฀Juan฀Vucetich,฀a฀Croatian฀immigrant฀in฀Argentina,฀was฀the฀fi฀rst฀to฀develop฀an฀identifi฀cation,฀classifi฀cation฀and฀fi฀ling฀system฀ based฀on฀fi฀ngerprints฀to฀replace฀the฀inadequate฀and฀‘annoying’฀Bertillon฀anthropometric฀method฀of฀identifi฀cation฀and฀classifi฀cation฀of฀criminals.37฀The฀Vucetich฀ system—which฀allowed฀its฀creator฀to฀solve฀a฀case฀of฀infanticide฀in฀1892,฀the฀fi฀rst฀ one฀to฀have฀been฀allegedly฀solved฀using฀fi฀ngerprints,฀and฀gave฀him,฀in฀a฀short฀ time฀span,฀international฀celebrity—was฀quickly฀adopted฀in฀many฀other฀countries,฀even฀beyond฀the฀region,฀and฀was฀seen฀as฀an฀important฀step฀in฀the฀implementation฀of฀scientifi฀c฀forms฀of฀policing฀and฀crime฀control.38฀Closer฀and฀more฀ effi฀cient฀collaboration฀between฀prisons฀and฀police฀and฀judicial฀authorities฀were฀ pursued฀and฀usually฀attained.฀Databases฀such฀as฀photographic฀records฀of฀criminals,฀biographical฀cards฀for฀criminals,฀workers฀and฀servants,฀health฀records฀for฀inmates,฀and฀many฀others฀were฀widely,฀albeit฀unevenly,฀implemented฀and฀used.฀As฀ a฀result฀criminologists฀and฀penologists—again,฀probably฀for฀the฀last฀time—came฀ to฀ enjoy฀ an฀ unusual฀ degree฀ of฀ social฀ and฀ political฀ prestige฀ and฀ authority฀ that฀ reached฀well฀beyond฀the฀walls฀of฀prisons฀and฀institutes฀of฀criminology.฀As฀Salvatore฀has฀argued฀for฀the฀case฀of฀Argentina,฀the฀infl฀uence฀of฀positivist฀criminology฀ could฀be฀identifi฀ed฀in฀at฀least฀two฀interrelated฀areas:฀‘(a)฀disciplinary฀institutions฀ adopted฀ideas,฀concepts,฀and฀policies฀for฀the฀control,฀rehabilitation,฀and฀resocialisation฀of฀“deviant”฀populations฀suggested฀by฀positivist฀criminologists;฀and฀(b)฀the฀ state’s฀everyday฀practices฀came฀to฀refl฀ect฀(in฀relation฀to฀the฀general฀population)฀ concepts,฀categories,฀and฀procedures฀pioneered฀by฀criminologists.’39 What฀kinds฀of฀effects฀did฀the฀spread฀of฀scientifi฀c฀penology฀have฀on฀prisons?฀ What฀were฀its฀implications฀for฀the฀treatment฀of฀prisoners฀and฀the฀vicissitudes฀of฀ daily฀life฀inside฀the฀institutions฀of฀confi฀nement?฀Were฀state฀authorities฀able฀to฀ reduce฀ signifi฀cantly฀ previously฀ existing฀ hindrances฀ such฀ as฀ overcrowding,฀ corruption,฀abuse฀and฀inhumane฀conditions?฀Based฀on฀the฀available฀scholarship,฀the฀ emerging฀picture฀is฀one฀of฀continuity฀with฀the฀past฀rather฀than฀change฀and฀improvement.฀With฀the฀possible฀exception฀of฀a฀few฀major฀detention฀centres,฀such฀ as฀the฀penitentiary฀of฀Buenos฀Aires,฀that฀could฀be฀considered฀‘well-ordered฀prisons’฀(to฀borrow฀a฀phrase฀used฀by฀Randall฀McGowen),40฀most฀Latin฀American฀ states฀failed฀to฀transform฀their฀prison฀systems.฀True,฀additional฀prisons฀were฀built,฀ some฀existing฀ones฀were฀modernised,฀living฀conditions฀were฀improved฀for฀small฀ numbers฀of฀inmates,฀and฀tighter฀security฀was฀added,฀but฀by฀the฀end฀of฀the฀1930s฀ in฀most฀countries฀of฀Latin฀America฀prison฀networks฀showed฀clear฀evidence฀of฀ distress,฀ineffi฀ciency฀and฀corruption.฀Only฀in฀Argentina฀did฀the฀modernisation฀ of฀ the฀ prison฀ system฀ under฀ the฀ aegis฀ of฀ positivism฀ seem฀ to฀ have฀ achieved฀ at฀ least฀some฀of฀its฀goals.฀As฀Lila฀Caimari฀wrote฀after฀summarising฀the฀changes฀effected฀between฀1933฀and฀1940—which฀included฀the฀construction฀of฀eleven฀new฀ ‘model’฀prisons฀and฀the฀overhaul฀of฀a฀number฀of฀existing฀gaols—‘the฀ideal฀of฀the฀ ordered,฀modern฀and฀scientifi฀c฀prison฀confi฀rmed฀its฀validity฀at฀the฀heart฀of฀the฀ (Argentine)฀state.’41฀Almost฀everywhere฀else฀the฀picture฀offered฀by฀outside฀observers,฀prison฀administrators฀and฀inmates฀was฀one฀of฀corruption฀and฀ineffi฀ciency฀ and,฀from฀the฀standpoint฀of฀the฀prisoners,฀of฀suffering฀and฀neglect.฀Science฀did฀ not฀help฀redeem฀the฀prisoner. 34 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀p.฀73. ฀฀ On฀the฀Vucetich฀system฀see฀Julia฀Rodriguez,฀‘Encoding฀the฀Criminal:฀Criminology฀and฀the฀science฀of฀“Social฀Defense”฀in฀modernizing฀Argentina฀(1880–1921)’,฀PhD฀dissertation,฀Columbia฀ University,฀1999,฀and฀‘South-Atlantic฀Crossings:฀Fingerprints,฀science,฀and฀the฀state฀in฀turn-ofthe-century฀Argentina’,฀ American฀ Historical฀ Review,฀ 109,฀ 2฀ (2004).฀ See฀ also฀ Kristin฀ Ruggiero,฀ ‘Fingerprinting฀and฀the฀Argentine฀Plan฀for฀Universal฀Identifi฀cation฀in฀the฀Late฀Nineteenth฀and฀ Early฀Twentieth฀Centuries’฀in฀Jane฀Caplan฀and฀John฀Torpey฀(eds),฀Documenting฀Individual฀Identity:฀ The฀development฀of฀state฀practices฀in฀the฀modern฀world,฀Princeton฀University฀Press,฀2001,฀pp.฀184–96. 38 ฀฀ As฀Kristin฀Ruggiero฀points฀out,฀Vucetich’s฀ambitious฀vision฀was฀to฀turn฀his฀system฀into฀something฀much฀larger฀than฀just฀a฀new฀criminological฀device.฀He฀envisioned฀a฀complete฀revolution฀ in฀the฀means฀by฀which฀information฀about฀human฀beings฀was฀fi฀led.฀The฀goal฀was฀to฀create฀‘a฀ universal฀system฀of฀identifi฀cation’.฀Ruggiero,฀‘Fingerprinting’,฀p.฀192. 39 ฀฀ Salvatore,฀‘Positivist฀Criminology’,฀pp.฀255. 36 37 35 DAILY฀LIFE฀AND฀PRISONERS’฀AGENCY Although฀ prison฀ conditions฀ were฀ usually฀ quite฀ defi฀cient฀ for฀ both฀ men฀ and฀ women,฀the฀existing฀evidence฀suggests฀that฀the฀latter฀fared฀signifi฀cantly฀better.฀ Male฀prisons฀were฀usually฀described฀as฀true฀hells:฀overcrowding,฀violence,฀lack฀ of฀ hygiene,฀ insuffi฀cient฀ food,฀ corporal฀ punishment,฀ terrible฀ health฀ conditions,฀ sexual฀and฀other฀types฀of฀abuses฀and฀excessive฀work฀are฀just฀some฀of฀the฀features฀ of฀life฀in฀prison฀that฀were฀constantly฀reported฀during฀most฀of฀the฀period฀under฀ review.฀The฀Mexico฀City฀Belem฀gaol฀was฀described฀as฀‘a฀box฀that฀contains฀all฀the฀ abjections฀and฀dejections฀of฀a฀society฀in฀formation’.42฀In฀Lima’s฀Guadalupe฀gaol,฀ according฀to฀a฀witness,฀‘a฀crowd฀of฀men฀were฀lying฀down,฀like฀incarnations฀of฀ ฀฀ Randall฀ McGowen,฀‘The฀Well-Ordered฀ Prison:฀ England,฀ 1780–1865’฀ in฀ Norval฀ Morris฀ and฀ David฀Rothman฀(eds),฀The฀Oxford฀History฀of฀the฀Prison:฀The฀practice฀of฀punishment฀in฀Western฀society,฀ New฀York:฀Oxford฀University฀Press,฀1995,฀pp.฀71–99. 41 ฀฀ Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente,฀p.฀123. 42 ฀฀ Quoted฀in฀Padilla,฀De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri,฀p.฀242. 40 36 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America brutal฀idleness!฀...฀huge฀rooms,฀humid฀and฀poorly฀ventilated,฀serve฀as฀bedrooms;฀ each฀bed฀is฀used฀by฀40฀or฀50฀prisoners฀...฀Such฀a฀jail฀is฀unimaginable฀in฀this฀city,฀ so฀proud฀of฀its฀lustre.’43฀฀Villa฀Devoto,฀an฀infamous฀gaol฀in฀Buenos฀Aires,฀was฀described฀in฀1909฀as฀‘a฀kingdom฀of฀arbitrariness,฀the฀absolute฀empire฀of฀dirtiness’.44 Matters฀ were฀ signifi฀cantly฀ worse฀ at฀ some฀ institutions,฀ in฀ certain฀ locations฀ and฀ during฀certain฀periods,฀but฀overall,฀as฀in฀many฀other฀societies,฀daily฀life฀in฀prison฀ was฀not฀particularly฀pleasant.฀However,฀one฀important฀caveat฀is฀worth฀mentioning:฀while฀more฀orderly฀and฀regimented฀prisons฀such฀as฀modern฀penitentiaries฀ may฀seem฀to฀have฀offered฀better฀living฀conditions฀when฀compared฀to฀fetid฀gaols,฀ the฀former฀were฀not฀necessarily฀perceived฀as฀such฀by฀some฀inmates฀who฀may฀ have฀preferred฀a฀more฀untidy฀and฀poorly฀administered฀one,฀such฀as฀Guadalupe฀ or฀Belem,฀where฀they฀would฀not฀feel฀the฀overwhelmingly฀intrusive฀presence฀of฀ prison฀regulations฀and฀would฀have฀much฀more฀leverage฀to฀negotiate฀their฀conditions฀of฀incarceration฀with฀‘weak’฀prison฀administrators.45 In฀the฀case฀of฀institutions฀of฀confi฀nement฀for฀women,฀living฀conditions฀appear฀to฀have฀been฀more฀benign,฀although฀still฀lacking฀and฀at฀times฀quite฀poor.฀ Although฀overcrowding฀was฀frequently฀reported,฀violence฀does฀not฀seem฀to฀have฀ been฀as฀pervasive฀as฀in฀male฀prisons.฀Food฀and฀health฀were฀overall฀quite฀tolerable,฀ but฀ not฀ for฀ everybody.฀ Scattered฀ evidence฀ suggests฀ that฀ mistreatment฀ (including฀physical฀chastisement)฀was฀pervasive฀and฀that฀abusive฀behaviour฀on฀the฀part฀ of฀the฀nuns฀was฀always฀an฀ingredient฀in฀the฀otherwise฀profoundly฀hierarchical฀ relationship฀ established฀ within฀ these฀ prison-convents.46฀ In฀ both฀ male฀ and฀ female฀prisons,฀though,฀conditions฀of฀living฀depended฀on฀specifi฀c฀confi฀gurations฀ of฀power,฀prestige฀and฀status฀within฀the฀inmate฀population.฀There฀were฀always฀ inmates฀that฀were฀able฀to฀secure฀relatively฀safe฀and฀benign฀conditions฀of฀incarceration,฀even฀inside฀overall฀rotten฀prisons. The฀issue฀of฀race฀in฀the฀shaping฀of฀the฀world฀of฀the฀prison฀is฀more฀diffi฀cult฀ to฀assess฀and฀summarise,฀especially฀because฀we฀lack฀studies฀on฀which฀to฀base฀any฀ fi฀rm฀ conclusions,฀ and฀ the฀ countries฀ we฀ are฀ surveying฀ present฀ quite฀ dissimilar฀ racial฀and฀ethnic฀confi฀gurations.฀The฀fi฀rst฀and฀most฀obvious฀fi฀nding฀is฀that฀the฀ majority฀of฀inmates฀generally฀belonged฀to฀the฀non-white฀racial฀groups.฀Prison฀ populations฀overwhelmingly฀comprised฀poor฀Indians,฀blacks฀and฀mestizos,฀which฀ ฀฀ Quoted฀in฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀p.฀103. ฀฀ Quoted฀in฀Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente,฀p.฀116. 45 ฀฀ For฀prison฀conditions฀in฀different฀countries฀of฀the฀region฀see฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀ passim;฀León฀Leon,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección,฀vol.฀II,฀chapter฀7;฀Fernández฀Labbé,฀Prisión฀común,฀pp.฀ 107–19;฀Padilla,฀De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri,฀pp.฀203–49;฀Piccato,฀City฀of฀Suspects,฀pp.฀189–209. 46 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀‘Mujeres฀delincuentes’,฀pp.฀223–4;฀Ruggiero,฀‘“Houses฀of฀Deposit”’,฀pp.฀126–8. 43 44 Daily฀Life฀and฀Prisoners’฀Agency 37 1.฀Postcard฀showing฀the฀façade฀of฀the฀Lima฀penitentiary,฀c.฀1900.฀ made฀incarceration฀as฀a฀social฀and฀legal฀practice฀one฀that฀greatly฀reinforced฀the฀ overall฀socio-racial฀structures฀of฀these฀societies.฀In฀cases฀such฀as฀Argentina฀that฀received฀large฀immigrant฀populations฀from฀Europe฀in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀and฀early฀ twentieth฀ centuries,฀ those฀ foreign฀ groups฀ also฀ came฀ to฀ represent฀ a฀ signifi฀cant฀ proportion฀of฀the฀incarcerated฀population฀(and฀a฀subject฀of฀constant฀preoccupation฀for฀authorities฀and฀criminologists).47฀In฀Brazil฀the฀overwhelming฀majority฀ of฀prisoners฀were฀Afro-Brazilians.฀Between฀1860฀and฀1922,฀for฀example,฀inmates฀ of฀African฀descent฀comprised฀74฀per฀cent฀of฀the฀incarcerated฀population฀at฀the฀ Recife฀ House฀ of฀ Detention.48฀ In฀ Peru฀ between฀ 1870฀ and฀ 1927฀ about฀ 85฀ per฀ cent฀of฀inmates฀at฀the฀Lima฀penitentiary฀belonged฀to฀non-white฀groups,฀and฀a฀ similar฀percentage฀(82.6฀per฀cent)฀is฀found฀among฀the฀inmate฀population฀at฀the฀ Guadalupe฀gaol.49 In฀terms฀of฀the฀administration฀of฀prisons,฀the฀classifi฀cation฀and฀separation฀of฀ inmates฀according฀to฀race฀was฀never฀legally฀sanctioned,฀but฀racial฀divisions฀and฀ tensions฀ clearly฀ shaped฀ the฀ forms฀ and฀ distribution฀ of฀ punishment,฀ the฀ allocation฀of฀prison฀space฀and฀privileges,฀and฀the฀distribution฀of฀resources฀within฀the฀ ฀฀ See฀especially฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore,฀‘Criminology,฀Prison฀Reform,฀and฀the฀Buenos฀Aires฀Working฀Class’,฀Journal฀of฀Interdisciplinary฀History,฀23,฀2฀(autumn฀1992),฀pp.฀279–99,฀and฀Eugenia฀Scarzanella,฀Ni฀indios฀ni฀gringos:฀Inmigración,฀criminalidad,฀y฀racismo฀en฀la฀Argentina,฀1890–1940,฀Buenos฀ Aires:฀Universidad฀Nacional฀de฀Quilmes,฀2002. 48 ฀฀ Huggins,฀From฀Slavery฀to฀Vagrancy,฀pp.฀88–9. 49 ฀฀ Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀p.฀228. 47 38 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Daily฀Life฀and฀Prisoners’฀Agency 39 prison.50฀ Racial฀ biases฀ informed฀ the฀ way฀ inmates฀ were฀ treated฀ by฀ authorities,฀ guards฀and฀fellow฀prisoners,฀with฀indigenous฀and฀black฀prisoners฀usually฀receiving฀poorer฀treatment฀than฀whites฀and฀mestizos.฀Authorities฀and฀guards,฀but฀also฀ fellow฀ inmates,฀ would฀ generally฀ share฀ pervasive฀ notions฀ of฀ social฀‘worthiness’฀ when฀dealing฀with฀individuals฀from฀different฀ethnic฀backgrounds.฀Based฀on฀what฀ we฀ know฀ about฀ the฀ functioning฀ of฀ prisons,฀ it฀ seems฀ fair฀ to฀ suggest฀ that฀ daily฀ life฀inside฀prisons฀reproduced฀the฀forms฀of฀interaction,฀hierarchies฀and฀confl฀ict฀ among฀different฀ethnic฀groups฀that฀existed฀in฀the฀outside฀world.฀In฀many฀cases฀ departments฀or฀special฀accommodations฀were฀created฀for฀‘distinguished’฀inmates,฀ usually฀members฀of฀the฀upper฀and฀white/mestizo฀classes.51฀Thus,฀even฀if฀prisons฀ were฀not฀conceived฀of฀as฀racially-segregated฀institutions,฀as฀in฀other฀areas฀of฀the฀ world,฀they฀usually฀reproduced,฀in฀their฀daily฀functioning,฀the฀racial฀structures฀of฀ Latin฀American฀societies.฀What฀is฀worth฀emphasising฀is฀that฀racial฀divisions฀were฀ not฀always฀forcefully฀imposed฀by฀prison฀authorities฀but฀were฀in฀fact฀sometimes฀ promoted฀by฀inmates฀themselves,฀who฀put฀in฀practice฀ideas฀and฀notions฀about฀ racial฀hierarchies฀learned฀in฀the฀outside฀world. Another฀important฀issue฀is฀that฀‘race’฀was฀frequently฀codifi฀ed฀in฀the฀use฀of฀ descriptive฀ socio-cultural฀ labels฀ that฀ designated฀‘lowly’฀ individuals฀ and฀ helped฀ demarcate฀boundaries฀of฀acceptable฀behaviour,฀citizenship฀rights฀and฀social฀worthiness,฀both฀outside฀and฀inside฀the฀prisons.฀Terms฀such฀as฀lépero,฀ratero,฀roto,฀jíbaro,฀ malandro,฀atorrante฀and฀the฀like,฀though฀not฀necessarily฀‘racial’฀idioms,฀contributed฀ atorrante to฀stigmatise฀large฀segments฀of฀the฀non-white฀population฀that฀were฀viewed฀as฀ ‘unworthy’฀and฀undeserving.฀Cultural฀constructions฀of฀race฀were฀intricately฀connected฀to฀discussions฀about฀criminality฀and฀marginality.฀The฀result฀was฀the฀usual฀ collapsing,฀in฀the฀imagination฀of฀state฀authorities,฀criminologists,฀journalists฀and฀ ordinary฀people,฀of฀socio-legal฀and฀racial฀categories,฀which฀contributed฀to฀the฀ intensifi฀cation฀of฀discriminatory฀practices฀against฀non-white,฀lower฀class฀populations,฀ and฀ their฀ mistreatment฀ by฀ the฀ criminal฀ justice฀ systems.฀When฀ a฀ police฀ offi฀cer฀apprehended฀a฀suspect฀and฀fi฀led฀him฀with฀the฀label฀of,฀say,฀‘recalcitrant฀ ratero’,฀he฀was฀doing฀much฀more฀than฀simply฀putting฀an฀individual฀through฀the฀ intricate฀labyrinth฀of฀the฀judicial฀system:฀he฀was฀triggering฀off฀a฀series฀of฀actions฀ and฀reactions฀that,฀in฀most฀cases,฀would฀disadvantage฀such฀an฀individual.52 ฀฀ Ibid.,฀pp.฀176–9. ฀฀ Piccato,฀City฀of฀Suspects,฀p.฀201.฀ 52 ฀฀ Pablo฀Piccato,฀‘Cuidado฀con฀los฀Rateros:฀The฀making฀of฀criminals฀in฀modern฀Mexico฀City’฀in฀ Salvatore,฀Aguirre฀and฀Joseph฀(eds),฀Crime฀and฀Punishment,฀pp.฀233–72;฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀ Lima,฀pp.฀120–3. 50 51 2.฀Original฀plan฀of฀the฀Lima฀penitentiary Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Political฀Prisoners As฀in฀other฀societies,฀inmate฀communities฀created฀their฀own฀‘prison฀sub-cultures’฀that฀strongly฀resonated฀both฀inside฀and฀outside฀the฀prison.฀Specifi฀c฀forms฀ of฀jargon,฀the฀use฀of฀tattoos,฀the฀various฀practices฀associated฀with฀homosexual฀ relations,฀certain฀forms฀of฀masculinity฀connected฀to฀various฀forms฀of฀criminal฀ behaviour,฀and฀the฀pervasive฀recourse฀to฀violence฀to฀settle฀differences฀were฀all฀ cultural฀devices฀that฀developed฀and฀were฀nurtured฀inside฀prisons,฀even฀if฀they฀ sometimes฀originated฀in฀the฀outside฀world.฀These฀manifestations฀of฀prison฀subculture฀contributed฀to฀create฀bonds฀of฀cooperation฀and฀horizontal฀reciprocity฀ among฀inmates,฀but฀also฀nurtured฀(and฀were฀nurtured฀by)฀acute฀forms฀of฀competition฀and฀confl฀ict.฀Prison฀communities,฀after฀all,฀were฀never฀homogenous฀human฀ conglomerates฀ but฀ rather฀ quite฀ heterogeneous฀ and฀ fragmented฀ collectives.฀ On฀ the฀other฀hand฀inmates฀were฀usually฀quite฀proactive฀in฀seeking฀forms฀of฀socialisation,฀entertainment฀and฀recreation฀that฀would฀allow฀them,฀whenever฀possible,฀to฀ alleviate฀the฀torments฀of฀prison฀life.฀The฀practice฀of฀football฀and฀other฀sports,฀especially฀after฀the฀turn฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀was฀quite฀popular฀among฀inmates฀ and฀was฀usually฀encouraged฀by฀prison฀authorities฀who฀saw฀in฀them฀important฀ means฀to฀promote฀healthy฀and฀safe฀distractions฀for฀inmates.฀Inmates฀also฀engaged฀ in฀activities฀such฀as฀drinking฀and฀gambling฀that,฀although฀prohibited฀by฀prison฀ bylaws,฀were฀frequently฀allowed฀by฀authorities฀when฀it฀was฀convenient฀to฀their฀ interests.฀As฀a฀result฀of฀these฀social฀practices฀prison฀life฀could฀be฀at฀once฀colourful฀ and฀dreadful,฀fun฀and฀horrifi฀c,฀violent฀and฀placid. Prisoners’฀responses฀to฀incarceration฀should฀not฀be฀framed฀in฀terms฀of฀a฀dichotomy฀between฀resistance฀and฀accommodation.฀More฀productive฀is฀to฀see฀their฀ behaviour฀(both฀individual฀and฀collective)฀as฀encompassing฀a฀series฀of฀complex,฀ ambiguous฀and฀shifting฀mechanisms฀of฀coping฀with฀their฀conditions฀of฀incarceration.฀Again฀it฀is฀diffi฀cult฀to฀make฀crude฀generalisations,฀but฀certain฀patterns฀ emerge฀from฀the฀available฀literature,฀patterns฀that,฀in฀fact,฀seem฀to฀be฀quite฀similar฀ to฀those฀found฀in฀other฀societies.฀Prisoners’฀attitudes฀varied฀widely฀depending฀on฀ the฀institution฀they฀were฀secluded฀in,฀their฀individual฀conditions฀(age,฀sex,฀place฀ of฀ origin,฀ race/ethnicity,฀ social฀ status,฀ criminal฀ background฀ and฀ so฀ forth),฀ the฀ legal฀condition฀and฀length฀of฀their฀confi฀nement฀and฀the฀particular฀relationship฀ established฀between฀inmates,฀guards฀and฀prison฀authorities.฀The฀fi฀rst฀conclusion฀ is฀that฀prisoners฀were฀always฀active฀seekers฀of฀greater฀degrees฀of฀autonomy฀and฀ leverage฀ in฀ the฀ negotiation฀ of฀ prison฀ rules,฀ both฀ among฀ themselves฀ and฀ with฀ prison฀guards.฀This฀involved฀a฀number฀of฀different฀strategies฀including฀violence฀ (or฀the฀threat฀of฀violence)฀and฀the฀forging฀of฀patronage฀ties฀with฀authorities฀and฀ other฀members฀of฀the฀prison฀community.฀Also฀important฀to฀underline฀is฀the฀fact฀ that฀prison฀communities฀were฀highly฀differentiated฀social฀groups฀within฀which฀ clearly-established฀and฀often฀quite฀brutal฀hierarchies฀(based฀on฀the฀combination฀ of฀criminal฀experience,฀control฀of฀existing฀resources฀and฀illegal฀trades,฀and฀the฀ use฀of฀violence)฀existed.฀Thus฀inmates,฀besides฀having฀to฀cope฀with฀the฀oppressiveness฀of฀prison฀structures,฀also฀had฀to฀recognise฀that฀they฀now฀belonged฀to฀a฀ community฀in฀which฀they฀would฀negotiate฀their฀way฀by฀confronting฀structures฀ of฀ power฀ that฀ sometimes฀ they฀ did฀ not฀ quite฀ understand.฀ Horizontal฀ relations฀ of฀solidarity—based฀on฀racial,฀regional,฀sexual฀or฀even฀political฀affi฀nities—were฀ common,฀albeit฀also฀quite฀fragile.฀Entering฀into฀relations฀of฀patronage฀and฀complicity฀with฀prison฀administrators฀and฀guards฀was฀fairly฀common,฀but฀also฀doubled-edged฀and฀even฀dangerous.฀Resorting฀to฀desperate฀attempts฀at฀ending฀the฀ oppression฀of฀prison฀life฀through฀escapes,฀suicide฀and฀riots฀was฀certainly฀an฀option฀(often฀quite฀risky),฀although฀less฀commonly฀pursued฀than฀the฀other฀strategies.฀There฀were฀other฀forms฀in฀which฀prisoners฀demonstrated฀their฀willingness฀ to฀fi฀ght฀back,฀and,฀in฀doing฀so,฀they฀defi฀nitely฀shaped฀the฀world฀of฀the฀prison฀and฀ the฀nature฀of฀the฀prison฀regimes฀being฀imposed฀upon฀them:฀writing฀letters฀to฀ newspapers,฀authorities฀and฀other฀outsiders,฀for฀instance,฀to฀denounce฀their฀living฀ conditions฀and฀to฀call฀attention฀to฀their฀suffering,฀or฀manipulating฀the฀kinds฀of฀ information฀they฀gave฀to฀prison฀experts฀and฀criminologists฀during฀interviews฀or฀ evaluations.53฀Collective฀forms฀of฀resistance฀and฀organisation฀surfaced฀from฀time฀ to฀time,฀and฀it฀seems฀that฀they฀became฀more฀common฀when฀inmates฀began฀to฀ interact฀with฀radical฀political฀prisoners,฀especially฀in฀the฀early฀twentieth฀century.54 40 41 POLITICAL฀PRISONERS In฀ most฀ countries฀ of฀ Latin฀America฀ political฀ imprisonment฀ was฀ widely฀ used฀ throughout฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀against฀members฀of฀opposing฀factions,฀outgoing฀administrations฀and฀conspirators,฀typically,฀albeit฀not฀solely,฀belonging฀to฀ the฀upper฀classes฀of฀society.฀Authoritarian฀administrations฀such฀as฀the฀Rosas฀regime฀in฀Argentina฀(1829–52)฀used฀imprisonment฀as฀a฀central฀ingredient฀of฀their฀ overall฀strategy฀of฀government฀and฀repression฀against฀political฀opponents;฀in฀fact,฀ they฀set฀a฀precedent฀that฀would฀reverberate฀throughout฀Latin฀America฀during฀ the฀ various฀ periods฀ of฀ successive฀ military฀ dictatorships.฀ Other฀ administrations฀ made฀less฀systematic฀use฀of฀political฀imprisonment,฀although฀it฀was฀always฀a฀resource฀they฀had฀in฀hand,฀especially฀given฀the฀highly฀volatile฀political฀climate฀that฀ ฀฀ Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente,฀pp.฀137–61;฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀pp.฀203–9. ฀฀ For฀ detailed฀ portraits฀ of฀ prison฀ life฀ in฀ various฀ countries฀ see฀ León฀ León,฀ Encierro฀ y฀ corrección;฀ Padilla,฀De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri;฀Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente;฀Picó,฀El฀día฀menos฀pensado;฀Aguirre,฀ The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima;฀Fernández฀Labbé,฀Prisión฀común. 53 54 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Political฀Prisoners characterised฀ most฀ Latin฀American฀ countries฀ during฀ this฀ period฀ of฀ protracted฀ and฀uneven฀state฀formation. Political฀prisoners฀were฀usually฀secluded฀in฀separate฀sections฀of฀gaols,฀police฀ stations,฀prisons฀and฀military฀barracks฀since฀tradition,฀legislation฀and฀the฀political฀ inmates’฀own฀determination฀almost฀always฀guaranteed฀that฀they฀would฀not฀be฀ mixed฀with฀common฀criminals.฀The฀category฀of฀political฀prisoner฀included฀various฀types฀of฀offender:฀members฀of฀the฀armed฀forces฀involved฀in฀attempted฀coups;฀ offi฀cers฀of฀outgoing฀administrations฀deemed฀politically฀dangerous;฀conspirators฀ and฀plotters฀against฀the฀ruling฀party;฀individuals฀involved฀in฀disturbances฀against฀ voting฀procedures;฀and฀opponents฀of฀colonialism฀in฀the฀case฀of฀Cuba฀and฀Puerto฀ Rico.฀Political฀imprisonment฀in฀the฀nineteenth฀century฀was,฀from฀time฀to฀time,฀ the฀subject฀of฀public฀denunciations,฀but฀only฀rarely฀did฀it฀reach฀wide฀audiences฀ or฀have฀an฀impact—as฀a฀subject฀of฀discussion—on฀broader฀political฀or฀legal฀debates.฀An฀ important฀ exception฀ is฀ the฀ pamphlet฀ written฀ by฀ Cuban฀ patriot฀ José฀ Martí,฀ Political฀ Imprisonment฀ in฀ Cuba฀ (1871),฀ a฀ damning฀ indictment฀ of฀ Spanish฀ colonialism฀in฀Cuba฀and฀a฀powerful฀call฀for฀patriotic฀action฀against฀it.55 The฀ use฀ of฀ political฀ imprisonment฀ would฀ become฀ much฀ more฀ widespread฀ and฀ sustained฀ towards฀ the฀ late฀ nineteenth฀ and฀ early฀ twentieth฀ century,฀ when฀ radical฀social,฀political฀and฀labour฀movements฀infl฀uenced฀by฀anarchist,฀socialist,฀ communist฀and฀nationalist฀ideologies฀challenged฀the฀oligarchic฀states฀and฀were฀ confronted฀with฀massive฀repression,฀including฀the฀political฀imprisonment฀of฀hundreds,฀if฀not฀thousands,฀of฀individuals฀belonging,฀for฀the฀most฀part,฀to฀the฀middle฀ and฀working฀classes฀of฀society.฀The฀administrations฀of฀Leguía฀in฀Peru฀(1919–30),฀ Machado฀in฀Cuba฀(1925–33),฀Juan฀Vicente฀Gómez฀in฀Venezuela฀(1908–35),฀Porfi฀rio฀Díaz฀in฀Mexico฀(1876–1911)฀and฀various฀regimes฀in฀Argentina฀(1900–30)฀ made฀systematic฀use฀of฀political฀imprisonment.฀Infamous฀prisons฀such฀as฀the฀Islas฀ Marías฀penal฀island,฀the฀San฀Juan฀de฀Ulúa฀fortress฀and฀the฀Mexico฀City฀penitentiary฀(also฀known฀as฀the฀‘Lecumberri฀Palace’)฀in฀Mexico,฀the฀Ushuaia฀penal฀ island฀and฀the฀Villa฀Devoto฀gaol฀in฀Argentina,฀the฀Juan฀Fernández฀archipelago฀in฀ Chile,฀the฀Lima฀penitentiary฀or฀‘panóptico’฀and฀the฀El฀Frontón฀penal฀island฀in฀ Peru,฀or฀the฀Presidio฀Modelo฀in฀Cuba฀hosted฀scores฀of฀political฀prisoners฀and฀ became฀synonymous฀with฀oppression฀and฀torture. One฀of฀the฀most฀interesting฀(and฀potentially฀disrupting)฀issues฀regarding฀political฀imprisonment฀was฀the฀relationship฀between฀political฀inmates฀and฀common฀ criminals.฀The฀presence฀of฀large฀numbers฀of฀political฀prisoners฀among฀the฀criminal฀population฀created฀tensions฀between฀those฀two฀groups,฀but฀also฀the฀potential฀ for฀further฀destabilisation฀of฀the฀prison฀system.฀The฀cohabitation฀with฀common฀ criminals฀ was฀ a฀ source฀ of฀ constant฀ debate฀ and฀ protest฀ on฀ the฀ part฀ of฀ political฀ prisoners;฀ while฀ in฀ most฀ cases฀ they฀ were฀ housed฀ in฀ separate฀ cells,฀ pavilions฀ or฀ buildings,฀there฀were฀instances฀in฀which,฀as฀a฀means฀to฀make฀their฀punishment฀ even฀harsher,฀political฀prisoners฀were฀forced฀to฀share฀the฀same฀spaces฀with฀common฀criminals.56฀Generally฀political฀prisoners฀detested฀the฀population฀of฀common฀criminals฀on฀the฀basis฀of฀their฀supposed฀lack฀of฀political฀consciousness,฀their฀ alleged฀moral฀degeneration,฀the฀recruitment฀of฀criminals฀as฀informants฀working฀ for฀the฀political฀police฀and,฀quite฀frequently,฀the฀racial฀and฀class฀prejudices฀held฀ by฀political฀prisoners.฀Political฀prisoners฀always฀tried฀to฀convey฀a฀sense฀of฀moral฀ superiority฀vis-à-vis฀common฀criminals฀and,฀in฀front฀of฀prison฀guards฀and฀authorities,฀they฀wanted฀to฀appear฀more฀‘worthy’฀than฀the฀vulgar฀thief฀or฀the฀dreadful฀assassin.฀They฀adamantly฀demanded฀respect฀for฀their฀rights฀and฀expected฀to฀ receive฀appropriate฀treatment฀from฀authorities,฀which฀typically฀meant฀not฀to฀be฀ treated฀‘like฀criminals’฀or฀physically฀mixed฀with฀them.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀though,฀ the฀presence฀of฀political฀prisoners฀belonging฀to฀radical฀movements฀was฀bound฀to฀ generate฀tensions฀that฀jeopardised฀the฀internal฀order฀of฀prisons,฀not฀least฀because฀ of฀their฀potential฀impact฀over฀the฀community฀of฀common฀criminals.฀In฀fact฀there฀ were฀occasions฀in฀which฀both฀groups฀joined฀forces฀to฀confront฀authorities฀and฀ demand฀certain฀rights฀or฀the฀fulfi฀lment฀of฀obligations.฀In฀addition฀political฀prisoners฀saw฀in฀common฀criminals฀potential฀collaborators฀and฀on฀occasions฀made฀ proselytising฀ efforts฀ among฀ them.฀As฀ Lila฀ Caimari฀ suggests,฀ the฀ experience฀ of฀ the฀prison฀allowed฀leftist฀militants฀to฀accumulate฀information฀on฀the฀realities฀of฀ prisons฀and฀made฀them฀more฀sensitive฀to฀the฀needs฀of฀the฀criminal฀population.57 For฀common฀criminals,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀the฀presence฀of฀political฀prisoners฀ was฀an฀opportunity฀to฀seek฀an฀alliance฀with฀individuals฀that,฀due฀to฀their฀social฀ connections,฀knowledge฀of฀the฀legal฀intricacies฀of฀the฀justice฀system฀and฀levels฀of฀ organisation฀both฀inside฀and฀outside฀the฀prison,฀represented฀important฀resources฀ in฀their฀efforts฀to฀improve฀their฀conditions฀of฀incarceration฀and฀possibly฀to฀attain฀ freedom฀or฀parole.฀Caimari฀recounts฀the฀case฀of฀a฀lieutenant฀imprisoned฀in฀1932฀ for฀leading฀a฀failed฀conspiracy.฀Common฀inmates฀kept฀telling฀him฀they฀were฀innocent฀and฀were฀unjustly฀serving฀prison฀time,฀but฀once฀they฀discovered฀that฀he฀ did฀not฀have฀any฀connections฀to฀authorities฀that฀could฀help฀them฀with฀their฀situation,฀they฀did฀not฀hesitate฀to฀confess฀their฀crimes฀to฀him.58 42 55 ฀฀ José฀Martí,฀El฀presidio฀politico฀en฀Cuba,฀Madrid,฀1871. ฀฀ Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente,฀p.฀124–35;฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima,฀pp.฀132–9. ฀฀ Caimari,฀Apenas฀un฀delincuente,฀p.฀126. 58 ฀฀ Ibid. 56 57 43 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Conclusion Political฀prisoners฀wrote฀memoirs฀and฀testimonies,฀smuggled฀letters,฀organised฀party฀cells฀inside฀prisons,฀and฀engaged฀in฀myriad฀other฀ways฀of฀confrontation฀with฀state฀power.฀By฀doing฀so฀they฀created฀a฀powerful฀imaginary฀about฀the฀ prison฀that฀resonated฀widely฀throughout฀society—more฀widely,฀certainly,฀than฀ common฀prisoners’฀voices.฀Testimonies฀such฀as฀La฀Tiranía฀del฀Frac฀...฀(Crónica฀de฀un฀ preso)฀by฀the฀Argentine฀anarchist฀militant฀Alberto฀Ghiraldo;฀the฀series฀of฀articles฀ and฀the฀book฀about฀the฀Cuban฀‘Presidio฀Modelo’฀written฀by฀the฀Puerto฀Rican฀ Pablo฀de฀la฀Torriente฀Brau;฀or฀Hombres฀y฀Rejas,฀a฀novel฀by฀the฀Peruvian฀Aprista฀ author฀ Juan฀ Seoane฀ about฀ his฀ imprisonment฀ in฀ the฀ Lima฀ penitentiary,฀ among฀ others,฀contributed฀to฀amplify฀the฀debates฀about฀prison฀conditions.59 (but฀also฀of฀criminal฀behaviour).62฀Popular฀songs฀and฀ballads฀told฀stories฀about฀ criminal฀and฀prison฀life฀to฀the฀usually฀illiterate฀masses฀of฀recently-arrived฀immigrants฀in฀various฀urban฀areas฀around฀the฀region.฀The฀increasing฀popularity฀of฀ the฀photographic฀genre,฀as฀a฀technique฀of฀identifi฀cation฀as฀well฀as฀a฀feature฀accompanying฀sensational฀stories฀in฀newspapers,฀greatly฀helped฀make฀the฀criminal฀ underworld฀‘known’฀to฀the฀population฀at฀large.63฀As฀a฀result฀the฀outside฀population฀developed฀a฀relationship฀with฀the฀prison฀that฀was฀at฀once฀more฀intimate฀and฀ increasingly฀distant.฀On฀the฀one฀hand฀the฀population฀in฀general฀came฀to฀‘know’฀ much฀ more฀ about฀ prisons฀ than฀ ever฀ before.฀They฀ could฀‘see’,฀‘smell’฀ and฀‘feel’฀ what฀prison฀life฀was฀like,฀including฀its฀most฀sordid฀aspects.฀On฀the฀other฀hand฀ the฀way฀prisons฀were฀generally฀portrayed฀in฀media฀accounts,฀as฀places฀of฀suffering฀ but฀also฀as฀‘schools’฀of฀vice฀and฀crime฀whose฀populations฀engaged฀in฀repugnant฀ forms฀of฀behaviour,฀made฀the฀public฀perceive฀them฀with฀horror฀and฀repulsion.฀ This฀latter฀point฀is฀particularly฀important,฀since฀the฀notion฀that฀criminals,฀and฀ not฀only฀prisons,฀belonged฀to฀a฀world฀of฀degradation฀and฀dreadfulness฀was฀instrumental฀in฀the฀shaping฀of฀a฀public฀opinion฀not฀very฀sympathetic฀to฀initiatives฀ aimed฀at฀improving฀the฀lives฀of฀inmates.฀Although฀much฀more฀research฀is฀needed฀ to฀assess฀the฀impact฀of฀these฀views฀about฀criminals฀on฀the฀absence฀of฀meaningful฀initiatives฀towards฀the฀amelioration฀of฀prison฀conditions,฀the฀exposure฀of฀the฀ intimacies฀of฀prison฀life฀to฀the฀outside฀population฀did฀not฀necessarily฀generate฀ sympathies฀towards฀inmates,฀mainly฀because฀of฀the฀way฀in฀which฀‘criminals’฀were฀ depicted,฀as฀unfortunate฀and฀suffering฀individuals,฀but฀also฀as฀belonging฀to฀a฀class฀ of฀ degenerate฀ and฀ immoral฀ subjects.฀This฀ may฀ help฀ explain฀ why฀ public฀ campaigns฀for฀the฀reform฀of฀prisons฀initiated฀by฀philanthropic฀societies฀(called฀‘Patronato฀de฀Presos’฀in฀some฀countries),฀religious฀individuals฀and฀groups,฀and฀a฀few฀ humanitarian฀personalities,฀that฀strove฀to฀move฀public฀opinion฀and฀state฀offi฀cials฀ towards฀a฀compassionate฀attitude฀towards฀prisoners,฀were฀generally฀isolated,฀weak฀ and฀short-lived.฀They฀stumbled฀against฀authoritarian฀views฀that฀deemed฀criminals฀as฀deserving฀the฀suffering฀they฀were฀enduring฀at฀gaols฀and฀prisons. 44 BEYOND฀PRISON฀WALLS The฀increased฀role฀of฀prisons฀as฀both฀sites฀of฀research฀about฀the฀‘social฀question’฀ and฀destinations฀for฀political฀prisoners—and฀thus฀objects฀of฀political฀denunciation—was฀ compounded฀ by฀ a฀ series฀ of฀ social฀ developments฀ that฀ amplifi฀ed฀ the฀ signifi฀cance฀of฀the฀prison฀in฀the฀imagination฀of฀large฀sectors฀of฀the฀population.฀ Public฀attention฀to฀the฀conditions฀of฀prisons฀and฀prisoners,฀for฀example,฀multiplied฀with฀the฀emergence฀of฀mass฀print฀media.฀Newspaper฀reporters฀visited฀prisons฀with฀a฀voyeuristic฀eye,฀ready฀to฀reveal฀the฀‘mysteries’฀of฀prisons฀to฀the฀outside฀ reader.60฀Sensational฀stories฀about฀famous฀criminals฀were฀endlessly฀told,฀usually฀ after฀interviewing฀the฀perpetrators฀inside฀their฀cells.฀Front-page฀drama—depicting฀in฀great฀detail฀episodes฀of฀theft,฀murder,฀suicide฀and฀prison฀escapes—became฀ a฀common฀feature฀for฀newspaper฀readers฀in฀most฀Latin฀American฀urban฀spaces.61 In฀Mexico฀broadsheets,฀including฀those฀featuring฀engravings฀by฀renowned฀artist฀ José฀Guadalupe฀Posada,฀chronicled฀and฀denounced฀the฀horrors฀of฀imprisonment฀ ฀฀ Alberto฀Ghiraldo,฀La฀tiranía฀del฀frac฀...฀(Crónica฀de฀un฀preso),฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Biblioteca฀Popular฀de฀ Martín฀Fierro,฀1908;฀Pablo฀de฀la฀Torriente฀Brau,฀Presidio฀Modelo,฀Havana:฀Instituto฀del฀Libro,฀ 1969;฀Juan฀Seoane,฀Hombres฀y฀rejas,฀Santiago฀de฀Chile:฀Ediciones฀Ercilla,฀1937. 60 ฀฀ Bretas,฀‘What฀the฀Eyes฀Can’t฀See’. 61 ฀฀ See฀for฀instance฀Alberto฀del฀Castillo,฀‘Entre฀la฀moralización฀y฀el฀sensacionalismo:฀Prensa,฀poder฀ y฀criminalidad฀a฀fi฀nales฀del฀siglo฀XIX฀en฀la฀ciudad฀de฀México’฀in฀Ricardo฀Pérez฀Montfort฀et฀ al.,฀Hábitos,฀normas฀y฀escándalo:฀Prensa,฀criminalidad฀y฀drogas฀durante฀el฀porfi฀riato฀tardío,฀Mexico฀City:฀ CIESAS/Plaza฀y฀Valdez,฀1997,฀pp.฀15–73;฀Lila฀Caimari,฀‘Pasiones฀punitivas฀y฀denuncias฀justicieras:฀La฀prensa฀y฀el฀castigo฀del฀delito฀en฀Buenos฀Aires,฀1890–1910’฀in฀Paula฀Alonso฀(comp.),฀ Construcciones฀impresas:฀Diarios,฀panfl฀etos฀y฀revistas฀en฀el฀origen฀de฀las฀naciones฀latinoamericanas,฀Buenos฀ Aires:฀Fondo฀de฀Cultura฀Económica,฀2004,฀pp.฀297–320;฀Sylvia฀Saitta,฀‘Pasiones฀privadas,฀violencias฀públicas:฀Representaciones฀del฀delito฀en฀la฀prensa฀popular฀de฀los฀años฀veinte’฀in฀Sandra฀ Gayol฀and฀Gabriel฀Kessler฀(eds),฀Violencias,฀delitos฀y฀justicias฀en฀la฀Argentina,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Manantial/Universidasd฀Nacional฀de฀General฀Sarmiento,฀2002,฀pp.฀65–85. 59 45 CONCLUSION As฀in฀other฀parts฀of฀the฀world,฀prisons฀in฀Latin฀America฀during฀the฀period฀under฀ study฀ were฀ far฀ from฀ model฀ institutions฀ performing฀ the฀ functions฀ expected฀ of฀ ฀฀ Frank,฀Posada’s฀Broadsheets,฀chapters฀1฀and฀2. ฀฀ The฀role฀of฀criminal฀photography฀in฀shaping฀both฀efforts฀at฀crime฀control฀and฀attitudes฀towards฀ criminals฀is฀analysed฀in฀Fernández฀Labbé,฀Prisión฀común,฀pp.฀197–234. 62 63 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Bibliographical฀Note them.฀The฀summary฀of฀the฀history฀of฀prisons฀in฀Latin฀America฀between฀1800฀ and฀1940฀outlined฀above฀offers฀a฀mostly฀negative฀assessment฀of฀their฀role฀in฀their฀ respective฀societies:฀states฀and฀reformers฀failed,฀for฀the฀most฀part,฀to฀transform฀ prisons฀into฀sites฀for฀the฀regeneration฀of฀criminals,฀and฀prisons฀did฀not฀offer฀inmates฀humane฀conditions.฀Prisons,฀the฀evidence฀also฀suggests,฀did฀not฀occupy฀a฀ central฀ place฀ in฀ the฀ strategies฀ of฀ domination฀ and฀ control฀ implemented฀ by฀ the฀ élites฀and฀the฀states. Several฀explanations฀could฀be฀offered฀in฀trying฀to฀understand฀why฀this฀was฀ the฀ case.฀ Financial฀ limitations฀ and฀ political฀ instability฀ account฀ for฀ the฀ lack฀ of฀ enthusiasm฀in฀the฀formulation฀and฀implementation฀of฀ambitious฀plans฀for฀the฀ reform฀of฀prisons.฀Weak฀state฀structures฀and฀corrupt฀mechanisms฀of฀recruitment฀ and฀control฀over฀the฀different฀levels฀of฀state฀bureaucracy฀also฀created฀problems฀ in฀ the฀ management฀ of฀ prisons฀ and฀ the฀ enforcing฀ of฀ the฀ bylaws.฀ Beyond฀ these฀ administrative฀ and฀ managerial฀ impediments,฀ however,฀ the฀ nature฀ of฀ the฀ larger฀ socio-political฀structures฀of฀these฀nations฀must฀account฀for฀the฀fate฀of฀prisons฀ in฀the฀region.฀Post-independence฀Latin฀American฀societies฀were,฀to฀varying฀degrees,฀ highly฀ exclusionary,฀ hierarchical,฀ racist฀ and฀ authoritarian฀ structures฀ that,฀ behind฀the฀legal฀façade฀of฀liberal฀democracies,฀maintained฀oppressive฀social฀and฀ labour฀forms฀of฀domination฀that฀included฀slavery,฀peonage฀and฀servitude.฀Citizenship฀rights฀were฀denied฀to฀major฀sectors฀of฀the฀population.฀Profound฀social,฀ regional,฀ class฀ and฀ ethnic฀ fractures฀ divided฀ the฀ populations,฀ resulting฀ in฀ sociopolitical฀regimes฀in฀which฀small฀élites฀(landowners,฀fi฀nanciers,฀export-oriented฀ entrepreneurs,฀ military฀ bosses)฀ exercised฀ domination฀ over฀ the฀ urban฀ and฀ rural฀ indigenous฀and฀black฀masses.฀This฀implied฀a฀fl฀agrant฀contradiction฀to฀the฀republican฀ ideals฀ of฀ citizenship฀ and฀ inclusion฀ upon฀ which฀ these฀ nation-states฀ were฀ supposedly฀founded.฀Within฀these฀structures฀punishment฀was฀rarely฀viewed฀as฀an฀ opportunity฀for฀the฀repentance฀and฀reform฀of฀the฀criminal฀or฀for฀the฀display฀of฀ humanitarianism฀on฀the฀part฀of฀the฀state;฀instead฀punishment฀was฀generally฀seen฀ as฀the฀privilege฀and฀duty฀of฀the฀ruling฀groups฀in฀their฀efforts฀to฀control฀unruly,฀ degenerate฀and฀socially฀and฀racially฀inferior฀peoples฀incapable฀of฀civilization฀and฀ unworthy฀of฀legal฀and฀civic฀rights.฀Instead฀of฀republics฀of฀citizens,฀as฀their฀constitutions฀usually฀proclaimed,฀Latin฀American฀societies฀were,฀during฀most฀of฀the฀ nineteenth฀century,฀neo-colonial฀structures฀in฀which฀the฀state฀operated฀mostly฀as฀ a฀tool฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀oligarchic฀groups. Around฀ the฀ turn฀ of฀ the฀ twentieth฀ century฀ the฀ growth฀ of฀ export-oriented฀ economies,฀the฀combined฀effects฀of฀migration฀and฀urbanisation,฀the฀emergence฀ of฀radical฀and฀middle-class฀social฀and฀political฀movements,฀the฀implementation฀ of฀ reforms฀ aimed฀ at฀ enlarging฀ the฀ participation฀ of฀ the฀ population฀ in฀ electoral฀ politics,฀ and฀ the฀ consolidation฀ of฀ relatively฀ modern฀ state฀ structures,฀ brought฀ about฀signifi฀cant฀changes฀in฀the฀nature฀of฀the฀relations฀between฀state฀and฀society.฀ Slightly฀more฀inclusive฀social฀and฀political฀projects฀were฀formulated฀and฀implemented,฀challenging฀the฀rule฀of฀oligarchies฀whose฀power฀had฀been฀sustained฀by฀ dictatorial฀political฀structures฀and฀export-oriented฀economic฀models.฀The฀single฀ most฀important฀outcome฀of฀all฀these฀changes฀was฀the฀growth฀and฀modernisation฀ of฀the฀state฀and฀the฀greater฀capacity฀it฀now฀had฀to฀intervene฀in฀the฀regulation฀of฀ society.฀Within฀this฀context฀a฀renewed฀effort฀was฀made฀to฀transform฀prisons฀into฀ loci฀for฀the฀regulation฀of฀lower-class฀behaviour฀as฀well฀as฀for฀the฀production฀of฀ knowledge฀about฀crime,฀criminals฀and฀the฀‘social฀question’.฀Prisons฀and฀prisoners฀witnessed฀the฀increasing฀presence฀of฀the฀state฀in฀the฀form฀of฀techniques฀of฀ identifi฀cation฀and฀recording,฀research฀facilities,฀centralised฀administrative฀bureaus,฀ closer฀integration฀between฀the฀different฀levels฀of฀the฀criminal฀justice฀system฀and฀ the฀like.฀Generally฀guided฀by฀positivism,฀these฀efforts฀allowed฀the฀state฀greater฀institutional฀ability฀to฀claim฀control฀and฀authority฀not฀only฀over฀prison฀populations฀ but฀ over฀ society฀ as฀ a฀ whole.฀Although฀ for฀ prisoners฀ themselves฀ these฀ changes฀ meant฀very฀little—they฀continued฀to฀suffer฀from฀poor฀living฀conditions,฀abuse฀ and฀neglect—some฀of฀these฀developments฀(the฀increasing฀presence฀of฀political฀ prisoners฀or฀the฀greater฀visibility฀of฀the฀prison฀in฀the฀wider฀society)฀did฀resonate฀ among฀them,฀opening฀up฀new฀spaces฀for฀contestation฀and฀struggle. 46 47 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL฀NOTE The฀literature฀on฀the฀history฀of฀prisons฀in฀Latin฀America฀is฀still฀relatively฀undeveloped฀and฀quite฀uneven฀in฀its฀coverage.฀A฀few฀countries,฀especially฀Argentina฀ and฀Mexico,฀have฀received฀much฀greater฀attention฀than฀others,฀and฀certain฀periods,฀for฀instance฀the฀decades฀between฀1870฀and฀1930,฀have฀been฀studied฀far฀more฀ than฀others.฀Nevertheless,฀the฀literature฀produced฀in฀the฀last฀ten฀or฀fi฀fteen฀years฀ has฀substantially฀advanced฀our฀knowledge฀about฀prisons฀and฀punishment฀in฀the฀ region,฀as฀this฀short฀essay฀attempts฀to฀show. Scholarly฀interest฀in฀the฀study฀of฀crime฀and฀punishment฀in฀Latin฀American฀ history฀ can฀ be฀ traced฀ back฀ to฀ the฀ early฀ 1970s.฀A฀ series฀ of฀ pioneering฀ monographs฀on฀urban฀and฀rural฀crime,฀banditry,฀policing฀and฀punishment฀were฀written฀ in฀ the฀ 1970s฀ and฀ early฀ 1980s.฀These฀ works,฀ that฀ were฀ variously฀ informed฀ by฀Marxist,฀dependentista฀and฀social฀history฀theories,฀include฀Colin฀MacLachlan,฀ Criminal฀ Jjustice฀ in฀ Eighteenth-Century฀ Mexico:฀A฀ study฀ of฀ the฀ tribunal฀ of฀ the฀Acordada,฀ Berkeley,฀ CA:฀ University฀ of฀ California฀ Press,฀ 1974;฀ Patricia฀Aufderheide,฀ Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Bibliographical฀Note ‘Order฀and฀Violence:฀Social฀deviance฀and฀social฀control฀in฀Brazil,฀1780–1840’,฀ PhD฀dissertation,฀University฀of฀Minnesota,฀1976;฀Linda฀Lewin,฀‘The฀Oligarchical฀ Limitations฀ of฀ Social฀ Banditry฀ in฀ Brazil’,฀ Past฀ and฀ Present,฀ 82฀ (1979);฀William฀Taylor,฀Drinking,฀Homicide,฀and฀Rebellion฀in฀Mexican฀Colonial฀Villages,฀Stanford฀ University฀ Press,฀ 1979;฀ Richard฀ Slatta,฀‘Rural฀ Criminality฀ and฀ Social฀ Control฀ in฀Nineteenth-Century฀Buenos฀Aires฀Province’,฀Hispanic฀American฀Historical฀Review,฀60,฀3฀(1980);฀Gabriel฀Haslip-Viera,฀‘Crime฀and฀the฀Administration฀of฀Justice฀ in฀Colonial฀Mexico฀City,฀1690–1810’,฀PhD฀dissertation,฀Columbia฀University,฀ 1980,฀which฀was฀subsequently฀published฀as฀Crime฀and฀Punishment฀in฀Late฀colonial฀ Mexico,฀1692–1810,฀Albuquerque,฀NM:฀University฀of฀New฀Mexico฀Press,฀1999;฀ Blanca฀Silvestrini,฀Violencia฀y฀criminalidad฀en฀Puerto฀Rico,฀1898–1973:฀Apuntes฀para฀ un฀estudio฀de฀historia฀social,฀Río฀Piedras:฀Editorial฀Universitaria,฀1980,฀on฀crime฀in฀ twentieth-century฀Puerto฀Rico;฀Paul฀Vanderwood,฀Disorder฀and฀Progress:฀Bandits,฀ police,฀and฀Mexican฀development,฀Lincoln,฀NE:฀University฀of฀Nebraska฀Press,฀1981฀ (2nd฀ ed.,฀Wilmington,฀ DE:฀ Scholarly฀ Resources,฀ 1992);฀ Julia฀ Blackwelder฀ and฀ Lyman฀Johnson,฀‘Changing฀Criminal฀Patterns฀in฀Buenos฀Aires,฀1890–1914’,฀Journal฀of฀Latin฀American฀Studies,฀14,฀2฀(1982),฀pp.฀359–79;฀Laurence฀Rohlfes,฀‘Police฀ and฀Penal฀Reform฀in฀Mexico฀City,฀1876–1911:฀A฀study฀of฀order฀and฀progress฀ in฀Porfi฀rian฀Mexico’,฀PhD฀dissertation,฀Tulane฀University,฀1983;฀Michael฀Scardaville,฀‘Crime฀and฀the฀Urban฀Poor:฀Mexico฀City฀in฀the฀late฀colonial฀period’,฀ PhD฀dissertation,฀University฀of฀Florida,฀1977;฀Alberto฀Flores฀Galindo,฀Aristocracia฀ y฀plebe:฀Lima,฀1760–1830,฀Lima:฀Mosca฀Azul฀Editores,฀1984,฀on฀violence฀in฀late฀ colonial฀Lima;฀Martha฀K.฀Huggins,฀From฀Slavery฀to฀Vagrancy฀in฀Brazil:฀Crime฀and฀ social฀ control฀ in฀ the฀Third฀World,฀ New฀ Brunswick,฀ NJ:฀ Rutgers฀ University฀ Press,฀ 1985;฀ David฀Trotman,฀ Crime฀ in฀Trinidad:฀ Confl฀ict฀ and฀ control฀ in฀ a฀ plantation฀ society,฀1838–1900,฀Knoxville,฀TN:฀University฀of฀Tennessee฀Press,฀1987;฀Richard฀W.฀ Slatta฀(ed.),฀Bandidos:฀The฀varieties฀of฀Latin฀American฀banditry,฀New฀York:฀Greenwood฀Press,฀1987;฀Loius฀Pérez,฀Lords฀of฀the฀Mountain:฀Social฀banditry฀and฀peasant฀ protest฀in฀Cuba,฀1878–1918,฀Pittsburgh,฀PA:฀University฀of฀Pittsburgh฀Press,฀1989;฀ and฀Rosalie฀Schwartz,฀Lawless฀Liberators:฀Political฀banditry฀and฀Cuban฀independence,฀ Durham,฀ NC:฀ Duke฀ University฀ Press,฀ 1989.฀Very฀ few฀ of฀ these฀ works,฀ though,฀ paid฀central฀attention฀to฀the฀prison฀system,฀although฀several฀of฀them฀did฀include฀ changes฀in฀punishment฀methods฀in฀their฀coverage. This฀situation฀would฀change฀in฀the฀1990s.฀Historians฀of฀Latin฀America฀began฀ to฀ pay฀ much฀ more฀ attention฀ to฀ both฀ institutional฀ and฀ informal฀ forms฀ of฀ social฀control฀such฀as฀prisons,฀mental฀asylums,฀houses฀of฀correction,฀penal฀servitude฀and฀the฀death฀penalty.฀The฀infl฀uence฀of฀both฀Foucauldian฀and฀social฀history฀ approaches฀ were฀ eclectically฀ combined฀ in฀ a฀ series฀ of฀ studies฀ about฀ prisons฀ in฀ connection฀to฀processes฀of฀state฀formation,฀formal฀and฀informal฀mechanisms฀of฀ social฀control฀and,฀to฀a฀lesser฀extent,฀the฀experiences฀of฀subaltern฀groups.฀The฀ 1990s฀initiated฀a฀period฀of฀intense฀research฀and฀debate฀about฀the฀history฀of฀the฀ prison฀in฀Latin฀America.฀To฀be฀sure,฀it฀was฀part฀of฀a฀larger฀interest฀in฀the฀history฀ of฀the฀law,฀justice,฀crime฀and฀punishment,฀which฀was฀refl฀ected฀not฀only฀in฀the฀ growing฀ number฀ of฀ publications,฀ but฀ also฀ of฀ scholarly฀ conferences,฀ panels฀ and฀ associations.฀This฀trend฀has฀yielded฀a฀number฀of฀valuable฀monographs฀that฀illuminate฀various฀aspects฀of฀the฀history฀of฀punishment฀and฀prison฀in฀the฀region:฀the฀ ideological฀and฀political฀foundations฀behind฀the฀adoption฀of฀‘modern’฀forms฀of฀ incarceration;฀the฀connections฀between฀prisons฀and฀the฀implementation฀of฀various฀socio-political฀regimes;฀the฀impact฀of฀positivism฀and฀criminological฀theories฀ on฀the฀management฀of฀crime฀and฀prisons;฀the฀porosity฀of฀carceral฀institutions฀and฀ their฀relationship฀with฀the฀larger฀society;฀the฀racial฀and฀gendered฀dimensions฀of฀ different฀forms฀of฀imprisonment฀and฀detention;฀and฀the฀prisoners’฀agency฀and฀ the฀making฀of฀prison฀subcultures. A฀great฀deal฀of฀the฀scholarship฀on฀prisons฀in฀Latin฀America฀has฀focused฀its฀ attention฀on฀the฀period฀between฀1870฀and฀1930.฀There฀are฀various฀reasons฀for฀ that:฀it฀is฀the฀era฀of฀consolidation฀of฀the฀nation฀state฀and฀of฀the฀implementation฀of฀ ‘modern’฀prison฀regimes;฀it฀is฀also฀the฀period฀in฀which฀innovative฀doctrines฀and฀ theories฀of฀crime฀and฀punishment฀(positivist฀criminology฀or฀the฀medicalisation฀ of฀punishment,฀for฀instance)฀were฀adopted.฀Prison฀reform฀was฀part฀and฀parcel฀of฀ the฀(always฀uneven)฀processes฀of฀modernisation฀that฀most฀Latin฀American฀countries฀went฀through฀during฀this฀period.฀Much฀less฀studied฀are฀the฀pre-Hispanic,฀ colonial฀and฀early฀independent฀periods,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀post-1930฀era.฀The฀exception฀to฀this฀is฀the฀proliferation฀of฀studies฀about฀political฀repression฀and฀incarceration฀during฀the฀authoritarian฀regimes฀of฀the฀1970s฀and฀1980s฀which,฀although฀ they฀represent฀an฀important฀area฀of฀scholarly฀work,฀fall฀outside฀the฀chronological฀ focus฀of฀this฀essay. Argentina฀and฀Mexico฀are฀the฀countries฀most฀studied฀by฀historians฀of฀punishment฀and฀prisons฀in฀Latin฀America.฀For฀Argentina,฀Beatriz฀Ruibal,฀Ideología฀del฀ control฀social:฀Buenos฀Aires,฀1880–1920,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Centro฀Editor฀de฀América฀ Latina,฀1993,฀offers฀an฀early฀and฀valuable฀synthesis฀of฀‘social฀control’฀discourses฀ and฀ debates฀ in฀ the฀ period฀ between฀ 1880฀ and฀ 1920;฀ Ricardo฀ D.฀ Salvatore฀ has฀ studied฀ criminology,฀ prison฀ reform฀ and฀ the฀ spread฀ of฀ positivism฀ in฀ a฀ series฀ of฀ illuminating฀articles,฀‘Criminology,฀Prison฀Reform,฀and฀the฀Buenos฀Aires฀Working฀Class’,฀Journal฀of฀Interdisciplinary฀History,฀23,฀2฀(1992),฀pp.฀279–99,฀‘Penitentiaries,฀Visions฀of฀Class,฀and฀Export฀Economies;฀Brazil฀and฀Argentina฀compared’฀ in฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore฀and฀Carlos฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary฀in฀ 48 49 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Bibliographical฀Note Latin฀America:฀ Essays฀ on฀ criminology,฀ prison฀ reform,฀ and฀ social฀ control,฀ 1830–1940,฀ Austin,฀TX:฀University฀of฀Texas฀Press,฀1996,฀and฀‘Positivist฀Criminology฀and฀State฀ Formation฀in฀Modern฀Argentina฀(1890–1940)’฀in฀Peter฀Becker฀and฀Richard฀F.฀ Wetzell฀(eds),฀Criminals฀and฀Their฀Scientists:฀The฀history฀of฀criminology฀in฀international฀ perspective,฀New฀York:฀Cambridge฀University฀Press,฀2006,฀pp.฀253–80;฀the฀same฀ author฀has฀looked฀at฀an฀earlier฀period฀and฀has฀studied฀coercion฀and฀conscription฀of฀rural฀subaltern฀subjects,฀‘Repertoires฀of฀Coercion฀and฀Market฀Culture฀in฀ Nineteenth-Century฀Buenos฀Aires฀Province’,฀International฀Review฀of฀Social฀History,฀ 45,฀ 3฀ (2000),฀ and฀Wandering฀ Paysanos:฀ State฀ order฀ and฀ subaltern฀ experience฀ in฀ Buenos฀Aires฀during฀the฀Rosas฀era,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2003;฀and฀ the฀connections฀between฀the฀death฀penalty฀and฀liberalism,฀‘Death฀and฀Liberalism:฀Capital฀punishment฀after฀the฀fall฀of฀Rosas’฀in฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore,฀Carlos฀ Aguirre฀and฀Gilbert฀M.฀Joseph฀(eds),฀Crime฀and฀Punishment฀in฀Latin฀America:฀Law฀ and฀ society฀ since฀ colonial฀ times,฀ Durham฀ NC:฀ Duke฀ University฀ Press,฀ 2001;฀ Lila฀ Caimari฀has฀focused฀her฀attention฀on฀the฀cultural฀and฀political฀resonances฀of฀incarceration,฀‘Remembering฀Freedom:฀Life฀as฀seen฀from฀the฀prison฀cell฀(Buenos฀ Aires฀ province,฀ 1930–1950)’฀ in฀ Salvatore,฀Aguirre฀ and฀ Joseph฀ (eds),฀ Crime฀ and฀ Punishment;฀‘Castigar฀civilizadamente:฀Rasgos฀de฀la฀modernización฀punitive฀en฀ la฀Argentina฀(1827–1930)’฀in฀Sandra฀Gayol฀and฀Gabriel฀Kessler฀(eds),฀Violencias,฀ delitos฀y฀justicias฀en฀la฀Argentina,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Manantial/Universidad฀Nacional฀de฀ General฀Sarmiento,฀2002,฀pp.฀141–68;฀‘Psychiatrists,฀Criminals,฀and฀Bureaucrats:฀ The฀production฀of฀scientifi฀c฀biographies฀in฀the฀Argentina฀penitentiary฀system’฀ in฀Marinao฀Plotkin฀(ed.),฀Argentina฀on฀the฀Couch,฀Albuquerque,฀NM:฀University฀ of฀ New฀ Mexico฀ Press,฀ 2003;฀ Apenas฀ un฀ delincuente.฀ Crimen,฀ castigo฀ y฀ cultura฀ en฀ la฀Argentina,฀1880–1955,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Siglo฀XXI,฀2004.฀Lila฀Caimari,฀‘Whose฀ Prisoners฀are฀These?฀Church,฀state฀and฀patronatos฀and฀rehabilitation฀of฀female฀ criminals฀ (Buenos฀Aires,฀ 1890–1970’,฀ The฀Americas,฀ 54,฀ 2฀ (1997),฀ pp.฀ 185–208,฀ Donna฀J.฀Guy,฀‘Girls฀in฀–rison:฀The฀role฀of฀the฀Buenos฀Aires฀Casa฀Correctional฀de฀ Mujeres฀as฀an฀institution฀for฀child฀rescue,฀1890–1940’฀in฀Salvatore,฀Aguirre฀and฀ Joseph฀(eds),฀Crime฀and฀Punishment,฀pp.฀369–90,฀and฀Kristin฀Ruggiero,฀‘“Houses฀ of฀Deposit”฀and฀the฀Exclusion฀of฀Women฀in฀Turn-of-the-Century฀Argentina’฀in฀ Carolyn฀Strange฀and฀Alison฀Bashford฀(eds),฀Isolation:฀Places฀and฀practices฀of฀exclusion,฀ New฀York:฀Routledge,฀2003,฀pp.฀279–99,฀have฀paid฀close฀attention฀to฀the฀gendered฀dimensions฀of฀incarceration฀in฀a฀series฀of฀articles฀about฀houses฀of฀correction฀and฀reformatories฀for฀women฀and฀girls.฀Ernesto฀Bohoslavsky,฀‘La฀ystoria฀de฀ migrant฀padesimiento:฀Cárcel฀y฀literatura฀popular฀en฀Patagonia฀a฀principios฀del฀ siglo฀XX’฀in฀Jorge฀A.฀Trujillo฀and฀Juan฀Quintar฀(eds),฀Pobres,฀marginados฀y฀peligrosos,฀ Tepatitlán฀de฀Morelos,฀Jalisco:฀Universidad฀de฀Guadalajara฀and฀Patagonia,฀Argen- tina:฀Universidad฀Nacional฀del฀Comahue,฀2003,฀and฀Bohoslavsky฀and฀Fernando฀ Casullo,฀‘Apuntes฀para฀una฀historia฀de฀la฀cárcel฀de฀Neuquén฀(1904–1955)’,฀unpublished฀manuscript,฀focused฀their฀efforts฀on฀the฀lesser-known฀cases฀of฀prisons฀ in฀ the฀ Patagonia฀ region.฀ Kristin฀ Ruggiero,฀‘Fingerprinting฀ and฀ the฀Argentine฀ Plan฀ for฀ Universal฀ Identifi฀cation฀ in฀ the฀ Late฀ Nineteenth฀ and฀ Early฀Twentieth฀ Centuries’฀in฀Jane฀Caplan฀and฀John฀Torpey฀(eds),฀Documenting฀Individual฀Identity:฀ The฀development฀of฀state฀practices฀in฀the฀modern฀world,฀Princeton฀University฀Press,฀ 2001,฀ pp.฀ 184–96,฀ and฀ Julia฀ Rodriguez,฀‘Encoding฀ the฀ Criminal:฀ Criminology฀ and฀ the฀ science฀ of฀“Social฀ Defense”฀ in฀ modernizing฀Argentina฀ (1880–1921)’,฀ PhD฀ dissertation,฀ Columbia฀ University,฀ 1999,฀ and฀ ‘South-Atlantic฀ Crossings:฀ Fingerprints,฀science,฀and฀the฀state฀in฀turn-of-the-century฀Argentina’,฀American฀ Historical฀Review,฀109,฀2฀(2004)฀pp.฀387–416,฀have฀studied฀the฀implementation฀of฀ techniques฀of฀observation฀of฀the฀criminal฀body. For฀Mexico,฀the฀work฀of฀historians฀such฀as฀Pablo฀Piccato,฀Robert฀Buffi฀ngton,฀ Elisa฀Speckman฀Guerra,฀Nydia฀Cruz฀and฀Antonio฀Padilla฀Arroyo฀have฀illuminated฀various฀aspects฀of฀the฀development฀of฀the฀penal฀system,฀the฀functioning฀ of฀prisons฀and฀the฀impact฀of฀criminological฀theories.฀Nydia฀Cruz,฀‘Los฀encierros฀ de฀los฀ángeles:฀las฀prisiones฀poblanas฀en฀el฀siglo฀XIX’฀in฀Carlos฀Contreras฀(ed.),฀ Espacio฀y฀perfi฀les:฀Historia฀regional฀mexicana฀del฀siglo฀XIX ฀les:฀Historia฀regional฀mexicana฀del฀siglo฀XIX,฀Puebla:฀Centro฀de฀Investigaciones฀Históricas฀y฀Sociales฀de฀la฀Universidad฀Autónoma฀de฀Puebla,฀1989,฀and฀ ‘Reclusión,฀control฀social฀y฀ciencia฀penitenciaria฀en฀Puebla฀en฀el฀siglo฀XIX’,฀Siglo฀ XIX:฀Revista฀de฀Historia,฀12฀(1992),฀studied฀the฀case฀of฀the฀Puebla฀penitentiary฀ and฀the฀introduction฀of฀‘scientifi฀c’฀penology.฀Pablo฀Piccato,฀City฀of฀Suspects:฀Crime฀ in฀Mexico฀City,฀1900–1931,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2001,฀offers฀a฀ multilayered฀account฀of฀crime,฀punishment฀and฀urban฀life฀in฀modernising฀Mexico฀City.฀Robert฀Buffi฀ngton,฀Criminal฀and฀Citizen฀in฀Modern฀Mexico,฀Lincoln,฀NE:฀ University฀of฀Nebraska฀Press,฀2000,฀studied฀criminological฀theories฀in฀connection฀to฀discourses฀about฀race฀and฀nation฀in฀Porfi฀rian฀and฀revolutionary฀Mexico.฀ Elisa฀Speckman฀Guerra,฀Crimen฀y฀castigo:฀Legislación฀penal,฀interpretaciones฀de฀la฀criminalidad฀y฀administración฀de฀justicia฀(Ciudad฀de฀Mexico,฀1872–1910),฀Mexico฀City:฀El฀ Colegio฀de฀Mexico/UNAM,฀2002,฀surveyed฀the฀various฀scientifi฀c,฀juridical฀and฀ public฀discourses฀on฀crime฀in฀Porfi฀rian฀Mexico,฀while฀Antonio฀Padilla฀Arroyo,฀ De฀Belem฀a฀Lecumberri:฀Pensamiento฀social฀y฀penal฀en฀el฀México฀decimonónico,฀Mexico฀ City:฀Archivo฀General฀de฀la฀Nación,฀2001,฀detailed฀the฀functioning฀of฀prisons฀in฀ nineteenth-century฀Mexico. The฀ other฀ countries฀ of฀ the฀ region฀ have฀ received฀ much฀ less฀ attention.฀ For฀ Chile,฀ we฀ have฀ the฀ encyclopedic,฀ three-volume฀ study฀ of฀ the฀ formation฀ of฀ the฀ prison฀system฀by฀Marco฀Antonio฀León฀León,฀Encierro฀y฀corrección.฀La฀confi฀guración฀ 50 51 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America Bibliographical฀Note de฀un฀sistema฀de฀prisiones฀en฀Chile฀(1800–1911),฀Santiago:฀Universidad฀Central฀de฀ Chile,฀3฀vols,฀2003,฀and฀the฀companion฀collection฀of฀documents฀compiled฀by฀the฀ same฀author,฀Sistema฀carcelario฀en฀Chile:฀visiones,฀realidades฀y฀proyectos฀(1816–1916),฀ Santiago:฀Dirección฀de฀Bibliotecas,฀Archivos฀y฀Museos,฀1997.฀Marcos฀Fernández฀ Labbé,฀Prisión฀común,฀imaginario฀social฀e฀identidad฀social,฀1870–1920,฀Santiago:฀Editorial฀Andrés฀Bello,฀2003,฀covers฀the฀period฀1870–1920,฀and฀focuses฀on฀the฀cultural฀resonances฀of฀incarceration.฀Women’s฀prisons฀and฀houses฀of฀correction฀have฀ been฀studied฀by฀María฀Soledad฀Zárate,฀‘Vicious฀Women,฀Virtuous฀Women:฀The฀ female฀delinquent฀and฀the฀Santiago฀de฀Chile฀Correctional฀House,฀1860–1900’฀ in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀78–100,฀and฀María฀ José฀Correa฀Gómez,฀‘Demandas฀penitenciarias:฀Discusión฀y฀reforma฀de฀las฀cárceles฀de฀mujeres฀en฀Chile฀(1930–1950)’,฀Historia฀(Santiago฀de฀Chile),฀38,฀1฀(2005),฀ pp.฀ 9–30,฀ and฀‘Paradojas฀ tras฀ la฀ reforma฀ penitenciaria:฀ Las฀ casas฀ correccionales฀ en฀Chile฀(1864–1940)’฀in฀Ernesto฀Bohoslavsky฀and฀María฀Silvia฀Di฀Liscia฀(eds),฀ Instituciones฀y฀formas฀de฀control฀social฀en฀América฀Latina:฀1840–1940.฀Una฀revision,฀ Buenos฀Aires:฀Prometeo฀Libros,฀2006,฀pp.฀25–48.฀Lastly,฀Eduardo฀Cavieres,฀‘Aislar฀ el฀cuerpo฀y฀sanar฀el฀alma:฀el฀régimen฀penitenciario฀chileno,฀1843–1928,’฀IberoAmerikanisches฀Archiv Amerikanisches฀Archiv฀21,฀3–4฀(1995),฀summarised฀the฀early฀development฀of฀penitentiary฀reform฀in฀that฀country. For฀Brazil,฀we฀have฀solid฀accounts฀of฀policing฀in฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro:฀Thomas฀Holloway,฀Policing฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro:฀Resistance฀and฀repression฀in฀a฀19th-century฀city,฀Stanford฀ University฀Press,฀1993,฀and฀Marcos฀Luiz฀Bretas,฀‘You฀Can’t!฀The฀daily฀exercise฀of฀ police฀authority฀in฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro,฀1907–1930’,฀PhD฀dissertation,฀Open฀University,฀Great฀Britain,฀1994;฀the฀use฀of฀the฀army฀as฀a฀penal฀institution:฀Peter฀M.฀Beattie,฀The฀Tribute฀of฀Blood:฀Army,฀honor,฀race,฀and฀nation฀in฀Brazil,฀1864–1945,฀Durham,฀ NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀2001;฀the฀representations฀of฀the฀prison฀in฀literature,฀ memoirs฀and฀the฀printed฀media:฀Marcos฀Luiz฀Bretas,฀‘What฀the฀Eyes฀Can’t฀See:฀ Stories฀from฀Rio฀de฀Janeiro’s฀prisons’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀ the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀101–22;฀and฀the฀connections฀between฀criminology,฀race฀and฀ prison฀reform:฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore,฀‘Penitentiaries,฀Visions฀of฀Class,฀and฀Export฀ Economies:฀Brazil฀and฀Argentina฀compared’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀ Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀194–223. For฀Peru,฀Carlos฀Aguirre,฀The฀Criminals฀of฀Lima฀and฀Their฀Worlds:฀The฀prison฀ experience,฀ 1850–1935,฀ Durham,฀ NC:฀ Duke฀ University฀ Press,฀ 2005,฀ focuses฀ on฀ prisoners’฀agency;฀the฀same฀author฀reviews฀informal฀mechanisms฀of฀incarceration฀for฀criminals฀and฀slaves,฀‘Violencia,฀castigo฀y฀control฀social:฀esclavos฀y฀panaderías฀en฀Lima,฀siglo฀XIX’,฀Pasado฀y฀Presente฀(Lima),฀1฀(1988);฀female฀institutions฀ Pasado฀y฀Presente of฀confi฀nement฀in฀Lima,฀‘Mujeres฀delincuentes,฀prácticas฀penales,฀y฀servidumbre฀ doméstica฀en฀Lima,฀1862–1930’฀in฀Scarlett฀O’Phelan฀et฀al.฀(comp.),฀Familia฀y฀vida฀ cotidiana฀en฀América฀Latina,฀Siglos฀XVIII–XX cotidiana฀en฀América฀Latina,฀Siglos฀XVIII–XX,฀Lima:฀IFEA/Instituto฀Riva฀Agüero/ Pontifi฀cia฀Universidad฀Católica,฀2003,฀pp.฀203–26;฀the฀connections฀between฀race฀ and฀criminology,฀‘Crime,฀Race,฀and฀Morals:฀The฀development฀of฀criminology฀in฀ Peru฀(1890–1930),฀Crime,฀History,฀Societies,฀2,฀2฀(1998),฀pp.฀73–90;฀and฀the฀use฀of฀ clientelistic฀tactics฀by฀male฀inmates฀in฀Lima’s฀prisons,฀‘Los฀usos฀del฀fútbol฀en฀las฀ prisiones฀de฀Lima฀(1900–1940)’฀in฀Aldo฀Panfi฀chi฀(ed.),฀El฀Perú฀a฀través฀del฀fútbol,฀ Lima:฀Fondo฀Editorial฀del฀Congreso฀de฀la฀Republica,฀2006. For฀Puerto฀Rico,฀Fernando฀Picó,฀El฀día฀menos฀pensado.฀Historia฀de฀los฀presidiarios฀ en฀Puerto฀Rico฀(1793–1993),฀Río฀Piedras:฀Editorial฀Huracán,฀1994,฀summarises฀ the฀prisoners’฀experience฀with฀incarceration฀from฀the฀late฀eighteenth฀through฀to฀ the฀late฀twentieth฀centuries,฀and฀Kelvin฀Santiago-Valles,฀‘“Forcing฀Them฀to฀Work฀ and฀Punishing฀Whoever฀Resisted”:฀Servile฀labor฀and฀penal฀servitude฀under฀colonialism฀in฀nineteenth-century฀Puerto฀Rico’฀in฀Salvatore฀and฀Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀ Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary,฀pp.฀123–68,฀offers฀a฀synthesis฀of฀penal฀servitude฀and฀colonialism฀in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀century.฀ The฀literature฀about฀criminological฀and฀racial฀discourses฀in฀Cuba,฀especially฀ Alejandra฀Bronfman,฀Measures฀of฀Equality:฀Social฀science,฀citizenship,฀and฀race฀in฀Cuba,฀ 1902–1940,฀Chapel฀Hill,฀NC:฀University฀of฀North฀Carolina฀Press,฀2004,฀helps฀us฀ understand฀the฀context฀for฀prison฀reform฀in฀that฀country,฀even฀if฀we฀lack฀specifi฀c฀ studies฀about฀the฀prison. In฀Ecuador,฀the฀work฀of฀Ana฀María฀Goetschel,฀‘El฀discurso฀sobre฀la฀delincuencia฀y฀la฀constitución฀del฀estado฀ecuatoriano฀en฀el฀siglo฀XIX฀(períodos฀Garciano฀ y฀liberal)’,฀Master’s฀thesis,฀Flacso฀(Quito),฀1992,฀illuminates฀the฀relationship฀between฀liberalism฀and฀penal฀reform฀in฀the฀nineteenth฀century. For฀Colombia,฀a฀valuable฀study฀of฀nineteenth-century฀prisons฀in฀Antioquia฀ is฀ found฀ in฀ Rodrigo฀ Campuzano฀ Cuartas,฀‘El฀ sistema฀ carcelario฀ en฀Antioquia฀ durante฀el฀siglo฀XIX’,฀Historia฀y฀Sociedad฀(Medellin),฀7฀(December฀2000),฀pp.฀87– Historia฀y฀Sociedad 122;฀while฀for฀Venezuela,฀Ermila฀Troconis฀de฀Veracoechea,฀Historia฀de฀las฀cárceles฀ en฀Venezuela,฀1600–1890,฀Caracas:฀Academia฀Nacional฀de฀la฀Historia,฀1983,฀has฀ reconstructed฀the฀history฀of฀prisons฀from฀colonial฀times฀to฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀ century. Finally,฀a฀series฀of฀collective,฀usually฀multi-national฀volumes฀has฀greatly฀contributed฀to฀our฀knowledge฀of฀crime,฀banditry,฀policing฀and฀punishment฀in฀the฀ region:฀Carlos฀Aguirre฀and฀Charles฀Walker฀(eds),฀Bandoleros,฀abigeos฀y฀montoneros.฀ Criminalidad฀ y฀ violencia฀ en฀ el฀ Perú,฀ siglos฀ XVIII–XX XVIII–XX,฀ Lima:฀ Instituto฀ de฀Apoyo฀ Agrario,฀1990;฀Lyman฀L.฀Johnson฀(ed.),฀The฀Problem฀of฀Order฀in฀Changing฀Societies:฀ Essays฀ on฀ crime฀ and฀ policing฀ in฀Argentina฀ and฀ Uruguay,฀ 1750–1940,฀Albuquerque,฀ 52 53 54 Prisons฀and฀Prisoners฀in฀Modernising฀Latin฀America NM:฀University฀of฀New฀Mexico฀Press,฀1990;฀Ricardo฀D.฀Salvatore฀and฀Carlos฀ Aguirre฀(eds),฀The฀Birth฀of฀the฀Penitentiary฀in฀Latin฀America:฀Essays฀on฀criminology,฀ prison฀reform,฀and฀social฀control,฀1830–1940,฀Austin,฀TX:฀University฀of฀Texas฀Press,฀ 1996;฀Carlos฀Aguirre฀and฀Robert฀Buffi฀ngton฀(eds),฀Reconstructing฀Criminality฀in฀ Latin฀America,฀Wilmington,฀ DE:฀ Scholarly฀ Resources,฀ 2000;฀ Ricardo฀ D.฀ Salvatore,฀Carlos฀Aguirre฀and฀Gilbert฀M.฀Joseph฀(eds),฀Crime฀and฀Punishment฀in฀Latin฀ America:฀Law฀and฀society฀since฀colonial฀times,฀Durham,฀NC:฀Duke฀University฀Press,฀ 2001;฀Sandra฀Gayol฀and฀Gabriel฀Kessler฀(comps),฀Violencias,฀delitos฀y฀justicias฀en฀la฀ Argentina,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Manantial/Universidad฀Nacional฀de฀General฀Sarmiento,฀ 2002;฀Jorge฀A.฀Trujillo฀and฀Juan฀Quintar฀(eds),฀Pobres,฀marginados฀y฀peligrosos,฀Tepatitlán฀de฀Morelos,฀Jalisco:฀Universidad฀de฀Guadalajara฀and฀Patagonia,฀Argentina:฀ Universidad฀Nacional฀del฀Comahue,฀2003;฀and฀Ernesto฀Bohoslavsky฀and฀María฀ Silvia฀Di฀Liscia฀(eds),฀Instituciones฀y฀formas฀de฀control฀social฀en฀América฀Latina:฀1840– 1940.฀Una฀revision,฀Buenos฀Aires:฀Prometeo฀Libros,฀2006.