MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile: Presidential frontrunner wants maximum security prison built in the desert

The prison would be located in the desert, north of Copiapó, in the Atacama region, Matthei pointed out

Presidential candidate Evelyn Matthei proposed building a maximum security prison in the Atacama desert, north of Copiapó, to combat organized crime by isolating the leaders of Chile's criminal gangs.

The frontrunner also favored housing inmates incommunicado in solitary confinement with restricted, recorded visits through glass. The prisoners' assets and those of their families would be seized. “In addition to having them incommunicado, we must take away all the money they earned, from them, from their father, mother, partner, from everyone,” she insisted.

Matthei emphasized sealing the northern border using military, air force, and police forces to prevent organized crime infiltration. She also cited her experience in Providencia, where 950 criminals were arrested annually, to underscore her expertise on security issues.

“You have to seal the northern border. Organized crime cannot continue to enter at will... That means that you have to guard thousands of kilometers, which is with the military, the Air Force, the Carabineros, and the PDI” investigation police,“ she further explained.

The maximum security prison would be located in the desert, north of Copiapó, in the Atacama region, next to another detention facility, Matthei pointed out.

”We are going to have some prisons for the worst of them all, the leaders of drug trafficking. We are going to have them alone, alone. One person in a room, and he/she does not see or live with anyone else,“ the conservative candidate also noted.

These inmates would have ”restricted visits“ through a glass, and their conversations would be recorded, she elaborated. ”I am interested in a safe prison, where they can no longer operate. In Chile, there is a judicial system that is respected. Those who will go to that jail will be the ones sent by Justice, not the ones sent by the President of the Republic,“ Matthei also mentioned. ”I want to assure you that I know a lot about this issue,” she insisted.