The Guerrero Correctional Institution (''Institución Correccional Guerrero'') is a prison for men located in

Aguadilla, Puerto Rico Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...

, owned and operated by the

Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation The Puerto Rico Department of Correction and Rehabilitation () is the law enforcement executive department of the government responsible for structuring, developing, and coordinating the public policies in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territ ...

. With a stated capacity of 944 inmates, it's among the three largest prisons in the territory. The facility was first opened in 1986 as a Community Therapy mental health unit (''Comunidad Terapéutica de Guerrero'') of the

Puerto Rico Department of Health The Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH) is one of the Cabinet-level agencies directly created by Article 4, Section 6 of the Constitution of Puerto Rico. It is headed by a Secretary of Health, appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico and re ...

. It became a correctional facility in March 1997. As of 2008 about a third of its inmates were pre-trial detainees, and the others were serving longer sentences at minimum security. From 2002 to 2008, some 53 Guerrero inmates died inside the institution, all but one of them pre-trial detainees, and 73% of them within their first week behind bars, most of them homeless. An extensive report by the ACLU of Puerto Rico blamed the abuse of a horse tranquilizer,

Xylazine Xylazine is a pharmaceutical drug used for sedation, anesthesia, muscle relaxation, and analgesia in animals such as horses, cattle, and other non-human mammals. Veterinarians also use xylazine as an emetic, especially in cats. It is an anal ...

, among inmates, and lack of appropriate medical attention and lack of accountability among prison officials.

References

External links

ACLU Puerto Rico report in its entirety (Spanish language)

executive summary of report (English language)
{{State prisons in Puerto Rico Prisons in Puerto Rico Buildings and structures in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 1986 establishments in Puerto Rico Government buildings completed in 1986