Overview
- Ernesto Álvarez presented the package on Wednesday, August 12, calling for order and authority inside prisons before any resocialization programs can expand.
- The proposal would recruit military reservists and retired police into the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) through formal selection to strengthen internal control and discipline.
- It calls for building low-cost, prefabricated modules for inmates convicted of low-harm offenses while reserving high-security prisons for the most violent offenders.
- Álvarez proposes private-sector roles in construction and management and said the executive is coordinating with the Public Ministry, the National Police and the Interior Ministry to define investigative responsibilities.
- The ministry plans a staged approach that first restores security, then brings in specialists and scales up programs such as Cárceles Productivas and a jungle work penal modeled on El Sepa, with the measures still needing formal approval and operational planning.