Without cell phones and focused on social reintegration: the first electoral debate held in a prison in Mexico

Mexico has held an electoral debate in a prison for the first time. The Electoral Institute of Mexico City and the prison authorities have announced that the exercise, only the second of its kind in Latin America, was “a success” and was held without a hitch after seven months of planning at the men’s center in Santa Martha Acatitla, one of the best-known prisons in the country. The meeting brought representatives of the three candidates competing for the Head of Government of the Mexican capital face to face, with the objective that more than 1,500 people in preventive detention can cast an informed vote and take another step to eradicate the stigma that affects the prison population.

“I had never been to Santa Martha Acatitla and I think it was also the first time for many people from the political parties,” says Luisa Cantú, the moderator of the debate. The journalist acknowledges that the previous hours were marked by nerves and the excitement of doing something that had not been done before in Mexico. The only precedent in the region was in Costa Rica in 2017. “Inevitably, being between gray walls, with towers and armed people generates some tension, but I think that is something that is also important to feel,” he says in an interview.

Cantú highlights that political forces have had to deal with issues that “are normally invisible” and that “are not always on the front pages,” such as the prison population and people in preventive detention, in many cases held for years, despite to not have a final conviction sentence. “Part of what is valuable is looking at the specific needs of people deprived of their liberty, but there is also something symbolic about bringing the debate to them, about having politicians and electoral advisors stand there,” he says.

The meeting lasted 67 minutes and the main topic was the care agenda in the family environment of people in preventive detention. Almost nine out of every 10 inmates in the capital come from vulnerable environments in terms of family care, eight out of every 10 have economic dependents and three out of every 10 did not receive visits for a year or more, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

There was room for two questions from people who are going to vote from prison, after 18 were received by a committee made up of Cantú and two specialists. In the end, 12 made the cut to be drawn during the debate. “Do you think that voting, the opportunity to vote, is important for the process of social reintegration?” That was the first. The second questioned the specific proposals of political parties for the families of those deprived of their liberty.

“I was pleasantly surprised that all the political forces studied a lot, it was not easy, it is not like talking about economic proposals or the general things that they bring up every day,” comments the moderator. The candidates also had time to offer an opening and closing message, and received a “time bag” of six minutes each to exchange ideas.

There was no direct participation of the candidates. The coalition of Morena, the Labor Party and the Green Party was represented by Sebastián Ramírez, the leader of Morena in Mexico City. Alejandro Piña, the party coordinator in the capital, presented himself for the Citizen Movement. Olivia Garza, former local representative and specialist in the prison system, presented the proposals of the opposition front, made up of the National Action Party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

“We saw that it was not enough to take ballots to prisons, we also had to guarantee an informed vote,” says Valentina Lloret, co-founder of CEA Justicia Social and one of the promoters of the debate. Lloret assures that her organization began discussing the idea of ​​​​taking a debate to a social reintegration center since 2021 and involved knocking on the doors of parties, local legislators and electoral institutions. “We broke stones for years, but what happened today was very exciting and a practically unprecedented exercise,” she says excitedly.

“It is not only about going to debate topics that interest the population that is in prison or their families, it also sends the message that they are seen, that they are part of society and that they continue to maintain ties with a community in abroad,” said electoral advisor Bernardo Valle, another of the key figures in the organization, in an interview. More than the negotiations with the political forces, the most complicated part was the logistics, says Valle.

Prison authorities establish security restrictions, ranging from the color of clothing of outsiders who enter to the prohibition of technological devices. External assistants, for example, could not access with their phones and were “forced” to focus their attention on what was happening and being said inside the prison.

During the preparations, it was negotiated to have the most agile format as far as possible and several options to host the meeting were also analyzed, but in the end the men’s section of Santa Martha Acatitla was chosen due to the layout of the spaces. The penitentiary center in the east of the capital was transformed in a matter of days into an auditorium, where stopwatches, cameras and lecterns suddenly appeared. For just over an hour, the prison yard became a forum for debates. “Everything was new, there was a lot of curiosity and I think it was very important to remove the stigma,” says Cantú. The meeting was recorded at ten in the morning on Friday and is scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday in all the city’s detention centers. It had to be held during the day, which was another of the conditions set by the prison authorities.

Confirmation that the debate was going to take place came just last week and against the clock, because people in confinement have to cast their vote between May 6 and 20, two weeks before the June 2 elections. It will also be the first time that the right to vote is guaranteed for the prison population in the country. In the case of Mexico City, those admitted will cross out four ballots and vote for the presidency of the Republic, the Head of Government, a local council and their mayors.

Excited to have broken down the first barrier, the organizers and participants admit that there are many areas for improvement. “One of the objectives is that this is just the first step,” says Cantú, who will also be in charge of moderating the upcoming debates in the capital (May 12) and the presidential election (May 19). Lloret hopes that this exercise can be replicated in other States and that in the future more topics will be discussed, access will be given to larger audiences and the candidates themselves will present themselves. “And why not? Maybe think about a presidential debate, we’ll see,” he says before concluding the interview.

Subscribe to the EL PAÍS Mexico newsletter and to the channel electoral WhatsApp and receive all the key information on current events in this country.

_