Costa Rica: A new model for prison standards in Latin America?

Costa Rica has slowly started to implement politically sensitive, but needed, reforms
Christian Science Monitor and Washington Office on Latin America (US)
Friday, August 29, 2014

prisonsPrison overcrowding is a widespread problem in Latin America, primarily because of harsh drug-sentencing laws and inadequate budgets, but Costa Rica may be setting a useful example for dealing with it. In most countries, guards control the perimeter, but groups of prisoners or criminal gangs organize and control life inside the prison compound. Rehabilitation and re-integration programs are limited.