Self-rule on the rise in Mexico's prisons

By David Agren, Special for USA TODAY

SALTILLO, Mexico — When the Los Zetas drug cartel offered to re-paint the prison chapel here, chaplain Robert Coogan declined the offer because the leaking roof would ruin the paint job anyway.


So the Zetas inmates fixed the roof, then painted the chapel, in one day.

"I asked (the leader) why you're not a politician," said Coogan, a New York native and Catholic priest. "He said, 'I like things done quickly.'"

The Zetas have the run of the prison in this industrial city 190 miles southwest of Lardeo, Texas, in what is known as autogobierno or self-rule. It dates back decades and forms of it exist in correctional facilities the world over.

But self-rule has become more of a problem in Mexico recently as prison populations swell with suspects detained in the ongoing crackdown on organized crime and the country's drug cartels seize power behind bars.

The most recent prison report from the National Human Rights Commission shows self-rule on the rise. Drug cartels and their affiliated gangs are among those increasingly seizing control, say prison observers such as Coogan.

The commission found self-rule practiced in 37% of the country's prisons – an increase from 30% in 2009. The prison report classifies self-rule as inmates being permitted to manage internal functions "such as controlling keys, organizing activities (and) cleaning and overseeing dormitories, among others."

That is the case in Saltillo, which is packed with members of Los Zetas. The Los Zetas cartel is one of the most powerful and violent cartels in Mexico. It was formed by former members of the military's special forces and has been known for leaving headless corpses in the streets to intimidate rivals and governments. Its principal stronghold is along the Gulf coast of Mexico, where it controls shipments of cocaine and other drugs into the U.S.

Mexico has been waging war against the cartels and jailed hundreds of members despite obstacles such as corrupt police and judges. But once inside, jailed cartel members often take over a prison and continue involvement in their drug operations.

Security experts such as Vicente Sánchez, professor at the College of the Northern Border in Tijuana, say self-rule exists mostly in state-level facilities. It took hold over the past four decades due to corruption, neglect and underfunding, he says, as prison mafias got involved in everything from peddling drugs to charging for the right to sleep on bunks.

"It's an expression of the enormous corruption that there is in these kinds of public security fields," he says.

Why the cartels exercise self-rule inside prisons remains a matter of debate.

David Ordaz, investigator at the National Criminal Sciences Institute, of the Attorney General's Office says the cartels want to maintain their status and replicate power structures formed on the outside. Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, ombudsman for the Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission in Ciudad Juarez, says that wardens have cut deals with prison mafias over the years – mafias now controlled by the cartels.

Self-rule, he says, "Means having total control over an inmate population," along with "the ability to communicate with the outside without restrictions."

Coogan says Los Zetas recruit inside his prison, have cellphones and recently installed air conditioning. They even adopted a dog and employ their own cook.

Problems such as self-rule seemed distant during much of Robert Coogan's 10 years as chaplain at the minimum-security lockup in Saltillo. It still appeared calm during a recent visit as inmates went about selling handicrafts, picnicking with families and praying in the chapel to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes and popular figure among prison populations. The priest attributes the seeming tranquility to "so many inmates being innocent."

The prison atmosphere soured with the arrival of inmates linked to Los Zetas, he says. It worsened in August 2009, when head guard, Esteban Acosta, was abducted while driving to Monterrey with his son and two brothers. Saltillo human rights lawyer Blanca Martinez, who has worked on Acosta's case, says no ransoms were demanded and the investigation has gone nowhere.

Los Zetas control expanded afterward. They now operate stores and charge the inmates to use workshops. They even opened a strip joint that serves shots of whiskey under the Los Zetas brand.

Los Zetas enforce its various rules through intimidation and violence, Coogan says, and their control appears in surprising ways. The prison leader forces inmates to attend a weekly flag-raising ceremony and attend education classes, Coogan says. Robberies are now infrequent.

"The leader will talk proudly of how he's put order in the place … how no one gets robbed," Coogan says. "In a place where nothing works, they make things work."

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