An Inmate Attempted to Offer Foreigners Tourist Visits Inside a Prison in Bolivia

 Bolivia's Directorate of Penitentiary Regime reported on Thursday that an inmate at the San Pedro prison in La Paz had prepared a “project” to offer tourist visits inside the prison, a practice that was popular in the early 2000s but, according to authorities, was eradicated at that time.

The inmate had printed promotional flyers in English, advertising visits to the prison on Tuesdays and Sundays, along with a WhatsApp number and a QR code, as shown to the media by the General Director of the Penitentiary Regime, Juan Carlos Limpias.

"This inmate is now in isolation. As appropriate, the prison center authority, Colonel (Sergio) Sillerico, has called on the Special Force Against Crime (Felcc) to open a new investigation into this situation," he said.

The official noted that the inmate had been imprisoned for murder for four years, was released, and then re-incarcerated on a drug-related case.

According to Limpias, the case is already under investigation, and authorities are looking for possible “accomplices” of the inmate, both inside and outside the prison, in addition to having “alerted” tourism agencies about this advertising.

The director emphasized that tourist entry to San Pedro is "not authorized," making this offer "a potential scam" targeting foreigners visiting Bolivia.

“In past years, we discontinued the tours inside penitentiary centers, as it once happened in San Pedro, which was treated like a zoo,” he stated.

Limpias urged people "not to be deceived" and stressed that "there is no authorization for tourism inside penitentiary centers; this practice has been abolished."

San Pedro prison, which is only for men, operates under an open regime, meaning there is no internal surveillance within its facilities, and cells have been turned into residences for inmates, who, until 2018, could live there with their minor children.

In the late 2000s, reports emerged of inmates offering "tours" inside San Pedro prison to travelers from other countries.

Initially, these visits were denied by the police and the prison itself, but Bolivian media at the time shared testimonies from foreigners who had visited and even mentioned drug sales inside the prison.

In March 2009, a television channel caught dozens of tourists leaving the prison at night, which led to restrictions on foreign visits to the prison and the dismissal of its then-governor.