Inside the Notorious Bolivian Prison, San Pedro
 |
| Shot taken of San Pedro Prison from on top of nearby hotel. |
It took us five days to gain entry to the notorious Bolivian prison, San Pedro. It involved a number of separate failed attempts, before we finally resorted to bribing the guards through an intermediary. But we made it.
San Pedro’s status as one of South America’s most notorious prisons is primarily thanks to former inmate Thomas McFadden, a British drug trafficker who ran tours showing backpackers the inside of the prison, and Rusty Young, an Australian backpacker, who recounted McFadden’s activities in his 2004 novel, Marching Powder.
As a result of Young’s tale of bribery, corruption and violence within the Bolivian prison system, San Pedro became the stuff of travellers’ folklore. His novel depicted a world where prisoners had to purchase their own cells, ran businesses in the courtyards and where high grade cocaine was produced and sold within the prison walls. A staple read on the backpacker circuit, it encouraged an ever greater volume of travellers to seek out a tour of San Pedro during their trips to Bolivia.
Over the last decade, the attitudes of different custodians of San Pedro, the police, as well as the effects of backpackers’ rumours about crimes committed against tourists visiting the prison, have all affected visitor numbers and the ease of gaining entry.
 |
| A rather hastily taken shot of the outside of the Prison - the guards weren't too keen on photos. |
In early 2009, however, the days of easy access to this world came to a halt after a group of tourists posted a video on YouTube boasting about taking a tour of San Pedro which featured the manufacturing of cocaine taking place within the prison (see a similar video here).
Following national media coverage of the clip and subsequent filming of the high volume of other tourists entering and leaving the prison, the Bolivian authorities decided to stamp out the “prison tours” that had previously been offered and sack the prison’s governor. Subsequent riots by prisoners who were upset that banning the tours was cutting off a valuable source of income for them (not to mention the guards), had to be quashed by 500 riot police who used tear gas to subdue the prisoners.
 |
| Prisoners on the roof of the Prison. |
Following these incidents, it became much more difficult to gain access to San Pedro, but was it still possible to get inside? That was what I wanted to find out.
Over the course of five days in La Paz I made a number of different attempts to gain entry to San Pedro. After a failed attempt at approaching the guards at the front gate, a failed meeting with a waiter who had connections on the inside, and a further failed attempt with the guards at the side entrance, my Dutch friend and I headed back to the main Plaza just outside the prison, a little dejected. It was at this point that a woman approached us asking if we had been trying to get into the prison. She said she could get us in when she went to visit her boyfriend, and we agreed a price of 300 bolivianos (about £30) to accompany her. This is not an insignificant amount in a country where a cheap meal can cost as little as £1. The rewards for the prisoners and poorly paid guards in facilitating these tours are obvious.
My friend and I were patted down by the prison guards on our way in - no phones or cameras were allowed inside the prison any more (for obvious reasons). Once through the entrace, we were led to meet our guide, Jorge, in the “La Poste” section of the prison.
San Pedro has 1500 inmates, mostly imprisoned for drug related offences. The prison is divided into 8 separate sections, each forming it’s own distinct little community within the prison (inmates generally cannot travel to other sections) and each is effectively run by the powerful individuals in that section. In La Poste, that was Pepe. Pepe, I was informed, was elected by a democratic vote of all the prisoners in the Section. (Although, I do retain some scepticism of the veracity of this remark since I later learnt that the previous regime had been buying votes for 20 bolivianos and some free cocaine!)
Jorge, who was second in command to Pepe in the gang: “Los Bandidos”, led us to a cell that was owned by Pepe, one of a few “properties” that he owed in the prison. Even though I had heard before entering the prison that cells could be purchased inside San Pedro, and that some of them were actually pretty luxurious, it was not what I was expecting. This “cell” had two stories, with a hallway, bathroom and fully functioning kitchen downstairs and a big living area upstairs complete with couches and a dinning table. Cells ranged in price from $500, for a small cell with no bathroom, up to $5,000 - $7,000 for a penthouse over a couple of floors. If inmates had no outside source of income they often chose to do jobs for other prisoners in return for cash to save up for a cell.
 |
| Inside Pepe's cell. |
Inside Pepe’s there was already a group of three English tourists and an Australian guy stationed at the sofas, who seemed to have been there a while. We were also introduced to other members of the gang, including: Pepe, who had previously spent seven years inside a Swedish prison before cutting off his own ear (he had the stump to prove it) and setting fire to the place in a failed escape attempt that resulted in his transfer to San Pedro; Miguel, who at 23 had already killed twice; and "Freckles", who had left home at 12, started using at 13, and was incarcerated for a variety of drug offences by the time he was 20, but is now clean.
The conversation and stories flowed freely, and no subject appeared to be taboo: their criminal records were discussed; cocaine production; where contraband, including weapons, were hidden during raids; what became of snitches that were discovered; and more besides.
Jorge, like the majority of the inmates in San Pedro, had been heavily involved in the drugs trade. He explained: “Cocaine is big business in Bolivia and readily accessibly in here.” La Paz is renowned as a Mecca for drug tourism, with its pop-up cocaine lounges, such as the infamous Route 36, and San Pedro is regarded as one of the places to get hold of the highest quality gear in the city.
In addition to the tales of crime and violence, and the bravura associated with these, there were also reminders that these were still people with normal, everyday concerns. For example, Jorge discussed his desire for his children not to get caught up in the life that he had led. He hoped that the money that he had made through crime could fund his children through an education at a top university, and, perhaps ironically, become Doctors or Lawyers.
It was portrayed to us visitors that Pepe and those in charge of the Sector wanted to make a difference to the younger members of the prison (whilst making a small profit along the way of course). The best example being the “Salle Comunal” (the communal cell) which was kitted out with bunk beds made in the carpentry. Here, new inmates who could not afford to purchase a cell, could sleep for the price of 4 bolivianos a night until they managed to get together funds for a cell of their own.
The tour also revealed inmates could learn basic woodwork skills in the Carpentry and that computers were being installed in a room to teach the younger kids computing skills. The sector’s gym was fitted out with weight machines that had been provided by Jorge (at a small cost, after all, nothing comes for free in San Pedro).
 |
| The section's gym |
Without question San Pedro is not full of Angels - there is plenty of evidence to the contrary to testify to that - but there was a surprising sense of community about the place. It is certainly unique.
When it was time to leave, we were ushered from the prison with the guards repeatedly saying “rapido” and gesturing us away from the building - perhaps this visit did not have the “official” seal of approval it may have had in the past - but it is clearly difficult to prevent these tours from happening ad infinitum.
Jorge evidently thought he had his “arrangements” in place with the right people though. Before leaving, he had asked us to spread the word about our visit, discreetly, amongst fellow travellers. He explained that Pepe’s quarters were to be turned into a base for the tours - they had ambitions to be able to host at least 15 people at a time. We were just the beginning of an attempt to increase the number of tourists visiting San Pedro again.
Perhaps this period, before the film version of Marching Powder, produced by Brad Pitt, is released in 2012, is the last chance that the inmates will have to capitalise on the prison tours. It remains to be seen whether the added scrutiny of San Pedro that will presumably come with the film’s release will stem the tide of travellers participating in tours of the prison. But I wouldn’t bank on it. Scrutiny and clamp downs on visits haven’t stopped the tours for long in the past. Caution will more than likely prevail for a time, but so long as the comparably great profits that can be generated from the tours outweigh the risk for the prisoners and poorly paid guards, I imagine that such caution will be short-lived.
