Venezuelan party prison

June 5, 2011 5:03 AM

Prison party central, Margarita Island, Venezuala. (NYT)
posted by Meatbomb (30 comments total)

Interesting, I had no idea that this prison had any basis in reality.
posted by Huck500 at 5:23 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow, that's something.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:25 AM on June 5, 2011

Anybody wanna go to Venezuela and commit some crimes?
posted by jonmc at 5:33 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yeah, let's go get sushi and not pay.
posted by adipocere at 5:39 AM on June 5, 2011 [8 favorites]

I see a Prison Break/Jersey Shore crossover in the future.
posted by arcticseal at 5:53 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

The minute I saw that article I knew it would show up here. It was written for the lulz and wtf, and it certainly produced. Prisons can be very strange places, sometimes simultaneously hellish and humane; swimming pools and a discotheque are definitely unusual amenities.
posted by Forktine at 6:04 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Prisons can be very strange places, sometimes simultaneously hellish and humane.

I'd say the same thing about... rock clubs.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:06 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd say the same thing about... rock clubs.

And in this case, you could say it about the club in the prison. Twofer!
posted by Forktine at 6:11 AM on June 5, 2011

I honestly don't see how this is any worse than any of our prisons.
posted by Avenger at 6:36 AM on June 5, 2011

I honestly don't see how this is any worse than any of our prisons.

I assume "our" prisons means US prisons? Well, I don't think there's a single prison in North America where you'll find inmates with firearms.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:42 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

oh flapjax.....
posted by tomswift at 7:11 AM on June 5, 2011

oh flapjax.....

Heh heh! Yeah, well, Mississippi... I'm not sure if that counts as part of "North America".

[NOT MISSISSIPPI-IST]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:21 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

Elsewhere, you'd think a gun like this would be more likely than the AK 47 mentioned in the article.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:22 AM on June 5, 2011

I assume "our" prisons means US prisons? Well, I don't think there's a single prison in North America where you'll find inmates with firearms.

Even so, with this post following on from the one about Louis Theroux's doc. on Miami jails, I'm pretty sure I'd be happier and safer in a Venezualan prison than an American one.
posted by jack_mo at 7:46 AM on June 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

In Bolivia there's a jail like this too...
posted by cloeburner at 7:47 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm left wondering what happens to you if you displease the guys running the prison.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:51 AM on June 5, 2011

I honestly don't see how this is any worse than any of our prisons.

Huh? It sounds excellent, as far as being in a prison goes. No guards, left pretty much alone by the Man, easy access to cheap drugs, Internet, satellite TV, a club / bar right next door - in some ways it sounds better than life in the USA in general.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:01 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Man - wait til the Conservatives hear this...
You know that stupid old line of theirs about us being too soft and letting prisoners have TVs and shit...

"Go to jail, not only get free room and board and a TV but guns and babes in bikinis..."

Secondly - I'm picturing that head dude as being a bit like Benny from City of God.
posted by symbioid at 8:06 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

But seriously - how violent is it?

They allude to it in the article, but glamorize the free-running part of it.

And they said murder rate of 1%? How's that compare to the outside world? Of course you'd hope that being in, you know... a prison, they'd have 0%, but still... And what is the murder rate in a prison like this that's more run by prisoners than guards?
posted by symbioid at 8:17 AM on June 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

Because nothing says "party" like being locked up on an island full of drug lords with assault rifles!
posted by oinopaponton at 8:31 AM on June 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

"Human rights researchers found that 476 prisoners — about one percent of the nation’s entire prison population of 44,520 — were killed last year alone."

This is different than American prisons and penitentiaries, both in terms of massive death rate and small scale.
posted by Blasdelb at 8:52 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Papillon !
posted by stbalbach at 9:12 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

And they said murder rate of 1%? How's that compare to the outside world?

How does it compare with the murder rate in other prison systems, I wonder? From the article, it sounds like prisons are pretty anarchistic over all, but this particular prison is 'run' by one guy who seems pretty laid back.
posted by delmoi at 9:14 AM on June 5, 2011

According to this the homicide rate in US state prisons in 2002 was 4 per 100,000. So yeah, much lower. Vastly lower.
posted by craichead at 9:30 AM on June 5, 2011

I would take the higher homicide rate if it came with women / conjugal visits, drugs, and no rape culture.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:06 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, and the swimming pool and barbecue too.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:07 AM on June 5, 2011

My state's current budget calls for a reduction in funds to pay prison chaplains. Some commenters on a local TV news site seemed to be incensed that taxpayer money was paying for that in the first place. Of course they also complained about cable tv and horror of horrors - "magazine subscriptions." I'd like to have a prison in my state just so I could see their heads explode.
posted by marxchivist at 10:21 AM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

This remind anyone else of a ghetto?
posted by ZaneJ. at 10:27 AM on June 5, 2011

Isn't this the premise for "Escape from New York"?
posted by jenkinsEar at 1:09 PM on June 5, 2011

Equal parts propaganda and sensationalism?
posted by kuatto at 8:52 PM on June 5, 2011 [1 favorite]