Next we will enter an isolation cell, which is where prisoners are sent when they commit an infraction. The only light entrance is a hole in the ceiling. How many people did you kill?
I do not remember. How many were there? We have committed different crimes at different times.
Absolutely everything is done in here. From going to the bathroom to cleaning up. Everything is done in here open.
This group behind me alone is very possibly responsible, directly or indirectly, for more than two hundred homicides. We are in El Salvador and today we will enter the Terrorism Confinement Center, the largest prison in the Americas, with a capacity to house about forty,zero prisoners, of which, today, a significant percentage are dangerous. Gang members and criminal leaders considered terrorists.
This is a maximum security prison and this is evident from the moment you are perhaps a kilometer from its perimeter, because there are already security elements that begin to interrogate you. They get out of your vehicle, they do a body search, they check your identification. Who are you?
What are you doing here? They tell me that there are seven security filters. Those that are imposed, which makes it practically an impossible mission for anyone to enter or leave without full authorization.
In this video we will know a little of how life is here inside, what are some methods and punishments that are imposed to control today's inmates. What are some of the rules that the country has imposed to control the situation with its criminals? Come, the Lord is waiting for us.
Let's give him to come in. Of course. They take all your belongings.
Phone, wallets, nothing. You can get in. It is even very interesting that the prison is built with a technology that does not allow a telephone signal so that nothing really communicates from inside here.
They also pass you to one/four where they search you, they take off your shoes, they even check the thickness of your socks. It is not for nothing that it is defined as a maximum security prison. When a person deprived of his freedom, that is, a prisoner, enters here, his whole body is searched with a technology that allows us to literally see if there is anything inside his body, data capture is taken and he proceeds to go to the module assigned to him.
Oh, by the way, we are able to enter to document with special press permits, but we do not really admit any type of visit. People deprived of their liberty in these types of prisons specially designated for terrorists are not entitled to any visits. Nothing about I want to see my mom, I want to see my wife, my daughter, nothing.
You lost that right because of the decisions you made. in the armory. You have guns, of course, to control.
In the event of a riot or similar situation. To date, there has not been one. And look.
These are the hand and foot cuffs that are placed on prisoners who have to leave their cells, whether for food, exercise, medical care, etc. You don't leave without a pair of these. This is a surprisingly light but sturdy bulletproof vest.
We are already inside one of the modules that has thirty-two cells, of which each one has a capacity to receive about one hundred people deprived of their freedom. Although these numbers may vary, it is very shocking to see it up close. Criminals sleep in a four-tier bunk system without any kind of mattress, and once people enter here, they will not leave until they finish their sentences.
We're talking about criminals here with sentences ranging from twenty years to over a thousand years. Literally there are beings who did crimes such that they were given sentences of more than a thousand years. Hence the saying that when you enter the sector you do not leave until you finish your sentence, because everything, absolutely everything, is done in here, from going to the bathroom to washing up, everything is done here open.
Another shocking fact is that the lights are never turned off here, not even to sleep, which makes you completely lose track of time. There are no clocks, so you don't know what time it is. It depends entirely on the schedules imposed on you by the custodians when they enter.
Everyone has to be abducted. We can also see that everyone has the same uniform and there are collective pots which they use to shower, to bathe, to do. We can also see that here there is a person from the medical team who comes every morning to leave pills for people who have some condition, who maybe are feeling some discomfort, even their hearings, in case their sentences have to be extended, are done from here inside.
I want you to pay attention to this. We are in the module, here are the cells, and right here is the fourth of face-to-face and notification. This is in case any of the prisoners have been accused of new crimes for which they have not been tried, that this may extend their sentences.
So from Juan Perez, come here. They found you a new crime. They are accusing you of something else because they are informing you of all this and then, in this other room here, they do the confrontation, they do the recognition of identity.
Then they form different prisoners, they give them a number on this side. Okay, here, this is a glass that can be seen perfectly from there, from here to there it is like a mirror. So the person who is crossing here can identify the aggressors, the accused, and without having set foot outside the module, this person is already accused of a different crime and can already spend many more years in here.
Likewise, here inside the module are the courtrooms where the accused can talk to their lawyers. All of that is respected here and their new sentences are read to them, all remotely. This is very impressive.
So here they have the cameras for video calls, here they sit those already sentenced, here they listen, here they can dialogue, here they can talk, here they can speak everything remotely. So I repeat, you don't set foot outside, No, no, this is truly amazing. they are taking us to another area.
And notice this detail: every time you change area, the floor is made of stones on purpose to make noise in case someone escapes. Make every little step more than evident. Let's go up to one of the watchtowers.
From up here we can see some of the modules and we can appreciate the security rings. The highest walls are nine meters of concrete, followed by three meters of electrified fencing. I was allowed to go up to the catwalk area, which is where security bodies are strategically placed to be able to see from above into the cells.
Here we can observe some of the methods that the prisoners use to sleep, as you will see in their welcome kit and so we could call them. They are given a sheet, they are given their uniform and they are given a towel. You can see that some choose to cover themselves with the sheet and put the T-shirts over their eyes to keep the light out so they can sleep and still others choose to lie on their towels.
We are now witnessing a cell extraction. This is an activity that is done once a day so that the prisoners can exercise. What is done is that the criminals are taken out of the cell in an orderly fashion, five by five or sometimes ten by ten.
They are placed in a row and handcuffs are placed on their wrists and ankles. Sometimes they are also joined together. They are then escorted to a designated area of the module, where they will be surrounded by guards so that they can move around without the possibility of rebelling.
Similarly, here we can see that most, if not all, of the guards choose to cover their faces for their own safety and that of their families, because in many cases they themselves live in neighborhoods that have been previously ruled by gang members, so they do not want to have to pay negative consequences for the work they are doing here or for their country. Their loved ones. Oh, and see from inside the cell they put the handcuffs on their wrists first, of course, so that no one can push the door open once it is opened.
And look, right now we are seeing how they are being escorted one prisoner at a time. Look how the chain is attached to their legs. All this with the intention of minimizing risks.
Talking with a guard, I was just given a piece of information that shocked me, and that is that this group alone, which is behind my back, is very possibly directly or indirectly responsible for more than two hundred homicides. What a blood-curdling piece of information once they are formed and the perimeter is protected by guards, their handcuffs are removed so that they can move freely and thus exercise. It is quite frightening to be just a few meters away from murderous kidnappers without any kind of protection.
Luckily there are literally dozens of guards surrounding me. But I won't deny it, this is a scary experience. Looking at the tattoos some of them have on their chests and backs, we can see what gangs they used to belong to.
Most allude to Mara Salvatrucha or eighteen, which are gangs. Historically enemies. It is interesting to see the strategy of putting them together in the same cell to represent that the gang no longer cares about you.
That has been left in the past and this ideology has changed, this system of separating the gangs by cells so they don't fight. Here they are practically being forced to reach a peace agreement. They gave me a reading of profiles that list crimes they have committed and it is very difficult to listen to them and it makes your skin crawl.
Rape, aggravated homicides, kidnappings, truly inhumane acts. I got to read profiles whose sentences listed two hundred and seventy years. And this, if not more crimes are added to the years they have left to live.
And if seeing all these images it is easy to suddenly be moved, to touch your heart, to say wow, what harsh mistreatment inside the prison, but when you learn of the inhumane atrocities they have committed it makes sense. Next we will enter an isolation cell which is where the prisoners are sent when they commit an infraction, they are always locked with a padlock and basically consist of this space in which they have a cement slab, they have a tub of water with a bucket, they have an access to drainage and they have a bathroom. The only light that you have is a hole in the ceiling and depending on the severity of your infraction, the number of hours you have to spend here will be defined.
I can tell you that it is a very claustrophobic sensation, very dark, an echo accompanied by a silence that weakens anyone, a very serious punishment. I do not want to imagine myself in a situation like this in which I would be locked up in this cell. The isolation cells have this hatch through which food is passed and likewise, with this small window through which you can supervise the person who is in there, you can close the door and check right now we have the camera light on.
Turn it off, it's completely dark, right? This is a traumatizing experience. If we talk about the food, they serve three courses of food.
I asked to taste the breakfast, that's what I'm going to get. Now we can see that it consists of rice with beans, cream and two tortillas. They tell me that breakfast and dinner is usually the same, it is usually this same dish and at lunch time maybe they can serve some pasta, maybe they can serve a rice with a different preparation, but they never really eat chicken or meat, that doesn't exist here.
That doesn't exist here. What do we get, frijolito? We get cream.
Each plate of food is put on the scale and has to weigh one pound. There is no distinction of any kind of rank here. Everyone, absolutely everyone, eats the same.
Today you are probably wondering about the people who are here working, packing the food. They are also people serving time in prison. Yes, but they are what we might call low-risk criminals.
Basically, all of them are in another prison, not in this one, because I repeat that this one is only for terrorists. All these people are under supervision and they are brought in to work from other prisons to do some of their community service. As I was telling you, they never leave the modules.
And this also applies to mealtimes. We can see that the plates and trays are left just outside the bars and they are the ones who take them and hand them out. I wondered how they manage to prevent abuses and the food from being stolen so that someone is left without food.
They tell me that all this is controlled from above, there is supervision and they make sure that everyone is eating. And in the same way we can see that there are custodians here watching that the food is distributed fairly once they finish their food. It is their job to rinse the dishes, to leave them relatively clean, they leave them there to be picked up and then they can use that water to clean their mouths, to clean their bodies.
We are going to talk now with a prisoner who has been involved in gangs since he was young. He has been here for a very long time and has a lot more to come. What gangs do you belong to?
to the "MS thirteen". Why are you here? For multiple offenses.
Like what? Homicides, deprivation of liberty, kidnapping, etc. How many people.
Did you kill? I don't remember. So many were.
We have committed different crimes at different times. How long have you been in prison? I entered at the age of twenty-one and I am forty-seven years old.
¿ How much time do you have left? I don't know. When God permits, I will go out.
Don't get into criminal groups like gangs, gangs, organized crime. Nothing that is crimes or sins on this earth. Because the consequences are serious, even if they offer you heaven or earth.
That is a lie of the devil. It is very sad to hear these stories and to know that it is the case of many of those here who committed horrible crimes when they were just children. Their environment got them involved in gangs.
The society they grew up in made them believe that this was the right path. Yes, it's very hard, it's very sad. And I mean whatever time you're watching me, you may think that the gang is your only escape, there's always another way.
And you don't have to look for the easy way out. I leave this prison in El Salvador, very shocked and with a strange feeling of relief. I can tell you that I have visited many prisons and have documented several for the channel.
It gives a horrible feeling of helplessness when you visit prisons where criminals who have done horrible things live like kings. To be able to appreciate these conditions and these measures in a maximum security prison gives a certain feeling of empowerment to a simple citizen like me. What feeling do you leave with?
I'll read them down here in the comments. Many thanks to the people in the industry for opening the doors for me to be able to document this and share it with you. See you as always, you know, in a few days with a new video.
