Prisoners and their advocates said inmates rose up because of what they deemed inadequate health care in a prison system that, like others across Latin America, is severely overcrowded
Footage taken by inmates and posted on social media and in the Colombian press on Saturday night showed inmates roaming free inside prisons and small blazes after prisoners set fire to mattresses. Gunfire could be heard in the background.
The uprisings took place as Colombia reported its first two deaths from the virus, a taxi driver in Cartagena and a 70-year-old woman in Cali. Health authorities say 231 people have been diagnosed as infected. The country of 50 million enters a three-week lockdown on Wednesday, with people confined to their homes and the borders sealed.
Laura Escobar, 22, whose partner, Yeison Franco, 26, is in jail in La Modelo, said he told her prisoners planned to beat pots and pans on Saturday night in protest. The action devolved into violence, with guards firing on the inmates, she said Mr. Franco had told her. “Today there is not one person with the contagion,” said Ms. Cabello, the justice minister, referring to the jail population.
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