The modern "Prison for Terrorists" CECOT in El Salvador looks like a factory, the eight blocks are reminiscent of factory halls. The prison director, Bellarmino Garcia, proudly explains to ARD that there are seven security zones: concrete walls, barbed wire fences, steel doors, heavily armed guards.
The prisoners, many of whom are tattooed all over their bodies, are members of the notorious "Mara" gangs, including serial killers. These gangs terrorized the population for decades, and were then captured in a giant operation in just one night. Once the death rate in El Salvador was the highest in the world, today the country is considered one of the safest in Latin America.
It is to this huge prison that members of a Venezuelan gang, deported from the United States on the orders of Donald Trump, were now sent. According to the Associated Press, the United States paid El Salvador six million dollars to accept them.
80 people per cell
In its report from the prison, ARD says that most of the prisoners are young and are locked behind bars like in a zoo. In front of each cell is a heavily armed guard with a helmet, shield and armored clothing. Inside, up to 80 people lie tightly packed in a cell with metal four-tier beds. Everything is in white - shorts, T-shirts and shoes. The prisoners have nothing else - they have no mattresses, blankets or pillows, they sleep directly on the metal bunks.
There are only two sinks and two open toilets in each cell. The cell ceiling is also barred, and guards patrol above. The light never goes out, the German public-law media describes the situation.
"Total control, no contact with the outside world"
The control is total and covers all prisoners one hundred percent, assures director Garcia. “The goal is for them to have no contact with the outside world. No visits are allowed - neither family, nor intimate meetings, nor lawyers or investigators.“
Indeed, the classic prisons in Central America are legendary: at one time, prisoners used to send orders for murder from there, and weapons, drugs, mobile phones and whatnot were brought in. That's why even conversations with the defense attorneys or judges are only possible here virtually in special rooms. The isolation is total.
Prisoners are allowed to leave their cells for 30 minutes a day, but they only walk in the corridors, writes ARD. People move in small groups, one after the other, after they have been handcuffed beforehand: half an hour of physical exercise with gymnastics and moral education with the Bible are planned.
Especially dangerous
Prisoners with completely tattooed bodies are considered particularly dangerous, says the German public-law media and lists some of the “heroes“: Pedro Antonio, head of the “Mara Salvatrucha“ gang, sentenced to 629 years in prison for multiple murders, kidnappings, extortion and terrorist activities. Or José Mauricio, a murderer from the Mara 18 gang - sentenced to 255 years in prison.
Most of the others have never seen a judge - they were arrested after the introduction of a state of emergency three years ago, a total of 80,000 people, according to official figures. Human rights activists claim that some are completely innocent. There is also criticism of the prison conditions. The leftist president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, even spoke of a "concentration camp". The prison director, for his part, emphasizes that the detainees receive medical care and food three times a day. This was humane treatment.
The Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, even defines the prison as "the greatest monument to justice". "We guarantee to society that none of these serial killers has even one millimeter of communication with the people of El Salvador. A guy like that has to commit ten murders to become a member of the “Mara“. There are over 40,000 serial killers here. So the question is – should we be romantic about the situation in prison and these beasts?“.
"We will never get out of here"
The ARD correspondent spoke to one of the prisoners – he has committed murders, thefts, and extortion, “a little bit of everything“, as he says. “With this maximum strict regime, you start to think, and at night you start to cry, because we will never get out of here“, he says.
The huge prison is the last stop. It is larger than 32 football fields, was built for 40,000 prisoners, has its own electricity and water supply, was built in just seven months, entirely of steel and concrete.
Author: Michael Castricius ARD