“I chose the closing of the Islas Marias penal colony as a symbolic act to commemorate these 100 days,” he said Monday. When Panama closed its Isla Coiba penal colony in 2004, Isla Marias became the last one remaining in the Americas. Island penal colonies were used around the world starting in the 1700s as remote, escape-proof places to “rehabilitate” inmates through hard labour. But in the end, the Islas Marias wound up costing Mexico far more per prisoner than did mainland jails. Chile closed its Santa Maria prison island in the late 1980s, Costa Rica’s Isla San Lucas penal colony closed in 1991 and Brazil’s Isla Grande in 1994.

Source: thestar March 11, 2019 20:00 UTC