Once an Inmate, Now He’s in Charge of Model Prison

Humberto Prado spent eight harrowing years locked inside two of Venezuela’s cruelest prisons. Now he’s on the other side of the bars.

After serving a sentence for armed robbery, he returned to the classroom to earn high school, university and law degrees. Studying at night, he continued to work in jails by day.

After his graduation, Justice Ministry officials made a novel move: They put him in charge of a prison.

“He turned his life around for the better, and I think he has inspired others to do the same,” said Monica Fernandez, the national prisons director.

Some inmates at Yare Central Metropolitan Penitentiary, about an hour’s drive south of Caracas, agree.

“There is no jail that is good for any man,” said Lara Morales, serving a 12-year sentence for armed robbery. “Jail is hard. But here you can live. It is possible to survive.”

Prado has cracked down on inmate violence, broadened education opportunities and improved recreation facilities. He also encourages the prisoners to take part in running their activities.

On a recent visit, a reporter found the stocky warden playing Ping-Pong with an inmate. He lost 11 to 9.

Fernandez sees Yare as a model for improving conditions in Venezuela’s widely criticized prison system, where deplorable overcrowding is common and conditions usually abysmal.

But money is short at the 31 jails, and many prison workers are less than conscientious. Last year, the Justice Ministry fired eight wardens and 350 guards over allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

“I am an example of how somebody can go into a jail and come out rehabilitated--stronger and with purpose,” said Prado, 40, who was locked up at age 21 and seemed uncomfortable talking about it.

“My incarceration was a very painful experience for me,” he said. “I know what it is like to be a prisoner dealing with isolation and hopelessness.”

Prado served time at the dismal La Plata prison in downtown Caracas, where overcrowding and drug trafficking played roles in a fire last October that killed 25 inmates locked in a cell. National Guardsmen were accused of starting the blaze.

Prado also did time in nearby Catia, a jail so notorious for violence, disease and homosexual rape that it became an international symbol of Venezuela’s out-of-control prison system. It was torn down in February.

“Those years in jail were the hardest of my life, and I was forced to recognize my errors,” Prado said.

While an inmate, he worked with other prisoners, teaching sports and organizing basketball tournaments. That helped him land a job organizing prison sports events after his release in 1985.

He worked for the prison system during the day and took high school courses at night, eventually earning his diploma and entering Santa Maria University law school in Caracas. He graduated in 1994.

Last September, justice officials offered him the job of running Yare, a medium-security prison where violence and drug-dealing were rampant among its 1,000 inmates.

Prado made sure the guards rooted out weapons, including the homemade knives that nearly everyone carries for personal protection, and he has kept them out.

“Only months ago, Yare used to be a place ruled by the strongest and the angriest,” he said.

These days, prisoners walk about with little restriction. They spend time listening to a steel-drum band, boxing, playing basketball, repairing school desks and cultivating vegetables.

“These are things I never had the chance to do when I was an inmate,” said Prado, who regularly walks through the jail unarmed, often stopping to talk with inmates about their problems.

“I am glad that at Yare the prisoners have opportunities to express themselves and feel like thay have some control over their lives,” he said.