Life in prison - February 2010

To escape a violent and controlling husband, Cheryl needed money. She wanted to leave South Africa and start a new life. She steeled herself to do anything.

I met Cheryl here in La Paz, in the women´s prison and have spent much of the last several days visiting with her. She is a very frank and engaging person and has experienced more than most in the past 26 months. She accepts full resposibility for her actions and told me about her life before and during her time in prison.

A friend of her husband agreed to give her $5,000 if she would trasport 2 suitcases from La Paz to Mallorca, Spain. She agreed, flew here, rented a room and awaited instructions. She was given $500 for expenses and told to purchase enough clothing to fill the suitcases which arrived at her room, seemingly, empty. The cocaine was pressed flat between carbon paper to fool X-Rays, then covered in coffee syrup to fool the dogs and hidden in the base of each suitcase. Foolproof.

After 5 days in La Paz she took her suitcases to the airport and was boarding the plane when she was pulled aside. She remembers the name of the beautiful but well trained golden lab which was running back and forth between her two bags on the tarmac. She denied the bags were hers however, the luggage tags matched those on her boarding pass. The customs agent fired up a chainsaw and ran it through her luggage sending white powder everywhere.

I tried and failed, 3 times, to bribe my way into the men´s prison here, after reading/hearing about how interesting it is inside. Then I learned about a white lady busted for smuggling so decided I would ask to visit her and am glad I did. Cheryl thanks God that she was busted in Bolivia instead of Europe or USA where she would recieve 10 to 20 years in a hard prison. Or in Asia where she could be executed for smuggling 8kg of cocaine worth over $500,000 on the resort beaches of Spain.

Her life is not all that bad she says, considering. She is locked up at night, to sleep, but during the day can wander around the prison, sit in a courtyard, take classes, purchase food in a restaurant, go to church or sit in her little "suite" to watch a DVD, cook, read, or listen to music.

On the occasions I came to visit we would sit outside and order lunch or a drink off one of the prisoners licenced to sell food. The banana smoothies are pretty good. Several of the ladies had children. They were running and playing and arguable better off in prison with their mothers than outside, orphaned on the street, like so many others. Cheryl misses her english speaking friend, a Philipino lady who was released a few weeks ago. She has not had visitors and her family has not been to see her, though her parents send her enough money to cover her expenses. She has 3 boys, with her first husband, from 15 to 23 and is not sure if they even know her situation.

Cheryl has been imprisoned for 2 years and 2 months though she has yet to be tried or convicted. She gave $4,000 to her lawyer, with assurances that this would be enough to pay her way out. It was all she could raise and he simply put it in his pocket leaving her angry and broke and vulnerable. Like all the prisoners, she must pay for everything inside. She must rent her room from the prison, though they deny this to Amnesty International, Prisoners Abroad and other interested groups. She purchases her food, toilet paper, and a shower costs 30 cents. She has had over a dozen visits to court. Each time she is acompanied by 2 police. She pays taxi costs and if it occurs over lunch then she pays for lunch for her guards too. To see a doctor it´s the same. Pay for the taxi, consultation fee and any meds she might need.

If a prisoner does not have family to send money, they must find a way to get it. Some steal, some find a job in the prison, others manufacture cocaine which they export, usually stuffed into condoms and hidden up inside their older children, who leave to attend school. The condoms are provided by a church group, trying to prevent women from becoming pregnant or infected while in prison.

Cheryl doesn´t speak much spanish and there are no other english speakers in prison so she was quite grateful for the company and conversation. I brought her some things she can´t get inside, like english books and movies, make-up and some fresh fruits. 3 limes is the maximum however, as people inject them with alchohol to take inside. I wish I could share a photo with you but cameras are forbidden and perhaps it´s best.

My visit yesterday was my last, sadly, as I´m leaving for the Amazon jungle today. I went to the prison with a few other backpackers who were interested to meet with her and they enjoyed their time as much as she did. With luck this will continue. People going to visit with her and telling others who do the same. It´s a chance to give something to someone in need, while learning a little bit about life in Bolivia in return.

Cheers, Roy