Encarcelacion

How packed are the Americas’ prisons?

Prison overcrowding is a major concern throughout much of the Americas. GlobalPost maps out prison populations and capacity by country.

The World

In Venezuela’s prisons, inmates are the wardens

Politics

Mexican hot potato over who controls prisons

Brazil: Rio shuts makeshift police-run jails

Caging in Central America

Peru prison: from pot smoke to pottery class

There’s nothing quite like Lurigancho, Peru’s largest prison, reputedly one of the toughest in South America. GlobalPost gets inside, and finds some surprises.

132 inmates escape Mexican prison near US boarder

132 prisoners dug their way to freedom according to authorities who said they escaped a Mexican prison through an underground tunnel.

In Mexico, breaking out of jail the easy way

Conflict

A massive, front-door prison walkout exposes gaping holes in Mexico’s corrections system.