New units will increase the capacity of the Libertad prison by 1,700 places
“They are fundamental works that have great work behind them and a better objective, which is to improve the security of all Uruguayans,” said the Minister of the Interior, Nicolás Martinelli, this week. On the day, the leader laid the foundation stone for the construction of penitentiary units 27, 28 and 29 in the Libertad prison, which will require some 75,000,000 dollars of investment and will be completed in 18 months.
“Uruguay is changing and what we begin today is part of a larger process, which will take us to a future where security is not a utopia, but a right for all Uruguayans,” stressed the head of the Ministry of the Interior, Nicolás Martinelli. at the event, in which he was accompanied by the undersecretary of that portfolio, Pablo Abdala; the director of the National Rehabilitation Institute (INR), Luis Mendoza; the parliamentary commissioner, Juan Miguel Petit, and the director of Coexistence and Citizen Security, Matías Terra, among other authorities.
Martinelli explained that the capacity of the three new units will be 1,700 seats, with medium and high security. Regarding the construction system, he explained that special concrete will be used, without interior iron, to avoid the use of these elements in violent events within the establishments.
The minister valued the work as a strategic investment, because, in his opinion, what happens inside prisons has consequences outside of them. “Preventing crime is, without a doubt, attacking its roots, and to do so, we have to improve the conditions in which each person deprived of liberty carries out their sentence,” he added.
The new spaces will cover 30,000 square meters and will be built by the Libertad Consortium, through public-private participation (PPP).
OTHER WORKS AND MEASURES IN PENITENTIARY SPACES
As Martinelli announced in his speech, in the coming days a contract will be signed to build a penitentiary facility for women in Punta de Rieles. “It’s another milestone,” he said. The work will create around 850 places, which can be expanded by up to 20%, to exceed 1,000 places. There will be a module for trans people and another halfway for those women who are close to graduation, which will facilitate their reconnection with the outside world.
Martinelli also referred to the restructuring of the penitentiary system through the location of prisons outside of cities. In this regard, he mentioned the new establishments in Artigas, Flores and Tacuarembó. He also reported that in a few days a contract will be signed to locate the Treinta y Tres prison complex outside the urban space.
The leader also maintained that in this period of government 1,900 positions were created and there are 1,957 under construction and 1,468 planned. On the other hand, he highlighted that this October 9, 108 new agents will graduate from the Penitentiary Training Center (Cefopen), to strengthen the service and improve the security of the units.
“Our goal is simple but challenging: a Uruguay where we can walk calmly, without fear, where the penitentiary system works as it should, not only as a place of punishment, but as a safe place, where each person who leaves does not choose a prison again. path that ends up harming all the rest of the Uruguayans,” he emphasized.
