BarbarousMexico JOHN KENNETH TURNER

REPRESSIVE ELEMENTS OF THE DIAZ MACHINE 153
—they were too much involved in Mexican affairs—to
leave any danger of their coming out and telling the
truth of what they saw. My credentials were not satisfactory
enough to permit me to see Belem.
But I know Belem fairly well, I think, for I have
talked with persons who have seen Belem as prisoners
and come out of its horrors alive. Editors, many of
them were; and I have talked with others—officials,
prison physicians, and I have read the newspapers of
Mexico.
Suffice it, however, to put down some bare and naked
facts. Belem is the general prison for the Federal District,
which comprises the Mexican capital and some
surrounding suburbs, approximating, in all, a population
of 600,000 people. It is alike city jail, county jail
and penitentiary, except that there is also in the district
another penitentiary, which is distinguished from Belem
by confining within its walls only criminals who have
been sentenced to more than eight years confinement.
The penitentiary—which is so designated—is a modern
institution, decently built and sewered. The prisoners
are few and they are fairly well fed. Visitors are always
welcome at the penitentiary, for it is principally
for show. When you hear a traveler extolling the
prison system of Mexico put it down that he was conducted
through the Federal District penitentiary only
—that he does not know of Belem.
Beleni is a musty old convent which was turned into
a prison by the simple act of herding some thousands
of person within its walls. It is not large enough decently
to house five hundred inmates, but frequently
it houses more than five thousand. These five thousand
are given a daily ration of biscuit and beans insufficient
in quantity to keep an ordinary person alive for