Prison Riots in Colombia Over Virus Fears Leave at Least 23 Dead

The deaths followed countrywide prison protests in which inmates said authorities were not doing enough to control coronavirus. BOGOTÁ, Colombia — At least 23 inmates died in clashes with prison authorities over the weekend after what prisoners described as protests against officials for not doing enough to control the spread of coronavirus. The protests erupted in 13 penitentiaries across Colombia. The deadly clashes were in La Modelo prison in the capital, Bogotá, and officials described the riots as an effort by inmates to escape.

The country’s justice minister, Margarita Cabello, announced the deaths in a video address on Sunday morning, saying that the riots were part of a “massive and criminal escape attempt” that authorities had thwarted, and that there was “no sanitation problem” in the prison. The riots are among several violent confrontations in Latin American prisons since the arrival of coronavirus in the region. Worries are growing around the world about the risks faced by inmates and workers in prisons, where close quarters and strained medical operations can put people at a higher risk of infection. An inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn tested positive on Saturday for the coronavirus, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

It is the first known case involving an inmate in the U. S. federal prison system. On Sunday morning, Colombia’s health ministry said the country had 231 confirmed cases of coronavirus, resulting in two deaths.

There were no cases of coronavirus at La Modelo, according to the justice ministry. Speaking from a cellphone inside another Bogotá prison, La Picota, Oscar Sanchez, 42, an inmate, called the clashes “a massacre that until now has taken more lives than coronavirus in Colombia. ” “We are trying to launch an SOS,” said Mr. Sanchez, adding that the prison was overcrowded, that inmates had not received enough information about how to protect themselves, and that many were worried that guards would bring the virus into the compound.

“If there is one infection, it would be a time bomb,” he said. On Sunday morning, family members of inmates crowded together outside La Modelo, some wearing surgical masks, and demanded information about their loved ones. They listened as an official with a bullhorn called out of the names of injured prisoners. In neighboring Venezuela, at least 10 prisoners died last week in the Retén de Cabimas prison in the state of Zulia, according to Governor Omar Prieto.