Prison Imperialism

A Visit Inside Colombia’s Most Notorious Prison, La Tramacúa

By James Jordan, Alliance for Global Justice National Co-Coordinator I called Raquel Mogollón just minutes after she had come from a rare visit inside the pavilions of Colombia’s most notorious prison, the High Security Penitentiary of Valledupar, commonly known as La Tramacúa. Mogollón is the Chair of the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) Colombia Committee…

Colombian Political Prisoner Enters 30th Day of Hunger Strike in the Infamous Tramacua Penitentiary

Today, Felix Rodrigo Sanabria completes one month of a hunger strike amid the squalid conditions of La Tramacua. La Tramacua is the first prison built under a US designed program to restructure Colombia’s prison system and increase its capacity by 40 percent. The Alliance for Global Justice has just received an urgent alert from our…

The “New Penitentiary Culture”: US Designs for Colombian Jails

How the USAID, Federal Bureau of Prisons and the School of the Americas Have Impacted Colombia’s Prison System By James Jordan Reprinted from The Narco News Bulletin September 9, 2010 Amid much talk of human rights and improved conditions for those deprived of liberty, in March of 2000, the US ambassador and Colombia’s Minister of Justice signed…

La “Nueva Cultura Penitenciaria”: Los diseños estadunidenses para las prisiones colombianas

Cómo USAID, el Buró Federal de Prisiones y la Escuela de las Américas han impactado el sistema penitenciario colombiano Por James Jordan Originalmente publicado en The Narco News Bulletin 10 de septiembre 2010 En medio de tanta discusión sobre derechos humanos y sobre la mejora de las condiciones de aquellos privados de su libertad, en…

La Tramacúa: Colombia’s Abu Ghraib

By James Jordan Special to The Narco News Bulletin August 17, 2010 This report appears on the internet at http://www.narconews.com/Issue66/article4177.html The name commonly used to refer to the Medium and High Security Penitentiary of Valledupar is “La Tramacúa.” What that name means exactly, no one is certain. But it is a name that is infamous throughout Colombia…