Tourists banned from San Pedro

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San Pedro prison in Bolivia was one of the country’s top tourist attractions but officials have closed the prison doors to the public and its tourist sightseeing days are over. Tourists have been paying bribes to the guards in order to witness life behind the cells and they have been known to eat and shop inside the jail as well as do drugs with the inmates.

Not only have visitors been barred but the corrupt guards have also been removed from the prison and replaced by new ones. Embarrassed, the government vowed to change San Pedro. “The most alarming thing was the tourists, we are now constantly rotating the guards so they do not develop a close relationship with inmates so we can cut off corruption,” said Jorge Lopez, head of the prison service.

Inmates used to have their own stalls to sell souvenirs to tourists and without visitors they will lose their trade. Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle star in a new film, Marching Powder, all about life for a convicted drugs smuggler behind the bars of San Pedro. Stays overnight at the prison and drugs parties also feature in the film, which perhaps led to the proposed closure to the public.

Thanks to www.guardian.co.uk for the above quotes and for more on this story please visit the website.

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