Christian Castro, the governor of Tocopilla, Chile, visited Austin last week as part of a nationwide survey of the American legal system. “Now that we have a working democracy in Chile,” he said, “we want our courts and prisons to reflect that.” Notorious dictator Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990.
On Aug. 2, “Naked City” found the young, dapper governor engaged in an intense conversation with Texas Inmate Families Association members Lisa Luna and Jan Dunlap. (Dunlap’s imprisoned son, Andrew Papke, was the subject of the Chronicle‘s Aug. 24, 2001, cover story, “What Is Justice?”) Castro may have come to the U.S. looking for practices to emulate, but Luna and Dunlap told him that when it comes to treatment of prisoners, Texas is no role model. “Most Texans seem to believe that we should just lock criminals away and forget about them,” Luna told the governor, adding that Texas has the most restrictive visitation regulations in the country, with inmates only allowed one short visit per week.
Castro seemed shocked by these revelations. In Chile, he said, “We have found that contact with the outside world is essential for a prisoner’s mental health. It gives prisoners hope. Without it, the millions we spend on rehabilitation would be wasted.” Chilean prisoners are allowed three four-hour visits a week, including conjugal visits between spouses.
Castro grinned when the women joked that he should run for governor of Texas. “We have modeled much of our justice system after the United States’,” he said. “But it seems that in some areas, you could learn from us.”
This article appears in August 9 • 2002.