CHILE · SECURITY · PRISONS
Key Facts
- —The country Chile is a copper-rich US partner on South America’s Pacific coast, governed since 11 March by President José Antonio Kast, a conservative who put crime at the top of his agenda.
- —What happened On Sunday 18 October, Security Minister Martín Arrau set out plans to swap the rest of some foreign inmates’ sentences for expulsion and to build at least one modular jail.
- —The numbers Chile’s prisons hold about 66,000 people in space built for 40,000, a shortfall of roughly 26,000 places in the minister’s figures.
- —Who is targeted The first candidates for expulsion are Bolivians serving short drug-trafficking sentences who are close to release.
- —Power Index Chile ranks 3rd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 63.6 points (October 2026 edition).
- —Still open The size and sites of the new jails come in an announcement after 1 January, and the bill allowing expulsions has not yet passed.
Chile’s government wants to free prison space by expelling foreign inmates near the end of their sentences and by building modular jails, Security Minister Martín Arrau said on Sunday 18 October. Speaking on the TVN programme Estado Nacional, he said the country’s prisons hold about 66,000 people in space for 40,000.
For US readers, Chile is a close security partner of Washington under President José Antonio Kast, and its turn toward expelling foreign convicts echoes the US debate over deporting foreign offenders rather than jailing them. Arrau also ruled out copying El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison, a model he had spoken well of in August.
Expulsion Instead of Prison Time
Arrau said a bill already well advanced in Congress would let the state commute certain sentences into expulsion from the country, “which today is something that cannot be done.” He set this apart from presidential pardons, which he said are a matter for the president alone.
He named Bolivians as the clearest case, saying there is “an important alert” about Bolivian inmates serving fairly short sentences for drug trafficking “who have little time left.” Swapping that remaining time for expulsion would free places and ease pressure on prisons, he said, adding that other measures are also under study.
Bolivia is Chile’s north-eastern neighbour, and the two share a long border across the Andes and the Atacama desert. The idea is not new: in 2022 the previous government filed a bill to restore court-ordered expulsion for foreigners sentenced under the drug law to no more than five years and a day, with a 10-year ban on return.
A Modular Jail, Not a CECOT
The traditional system of prison concessions, which plans to add 20,000 places over the next decade at high cost, is too slow, El Mostrador reported. The Security Ministry is therefore weighing fast modular construction for at least one new jail.
Asked whether the modular jails would resemble El Salvador’s CECOT, Arrau said: “All I will tell you in advance is that we are not thinking of that, nor of that kind of infrastructure.” CECOT is the giant prison for gang members built in El Salvador under President Nayib Bukele.
In August, Arrau had told the programme Tolerancia Cero that if he were a prisoner, he would rather be in one of Bukele’s prisons than in a Chilean one. He described cells designed for two people that hold six or seven.
Who Would Fill the New Places
The new modular places are meant first for inmates with good behaviour and low criminal involvement, so they can be separated from dangerous prisoners and organised crime figures. Arrau said Gendarmería estimates that about 15,000 inmates, close to a quarter of the prison population, fit that profile.
Gendarmería is Chile’s prison service, now part of the Justice Ministry, and Arrau said it moves to the Security Ministry on 1 January 2027. He also said it will move toward a more disciplined, militarised training model inspired by the Carabineros, Chile’s national police.
What It Means for You
For US investors and travellers, the plan is part of a wider law-and-order push by Kast’s government, which has joined Washington’s Shield of the Americas security coalition. Arrau’s rejection of a CECOT-style prison suggests Chile will not copy El Salvador’s mass-detention model.
The expulsion plan mainly concerns inmates from neighbouring countries such as Bolivia. Arrau did not say whether it would apply to every foreign nationality.
What Is Not Known
Arrau did not name the bill he referred to, so its number and current stage could not be confirmed. The closest match is the 2022 bill, number 15408-25, which the Chamber of Deputies passed in December 2022 and sent to the Senate, but a newer text cannot be ruled out.
The number of places, the sites and the cost of the modular jails are due only after 1 January. It is also not known how many foreign inmates would qualify for expulsion, or whether Bolivia has agreed to take them back.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chile planning for its prisons?
The government wants to build at least one modular jail and to commute the remaining sentences of some foreign inmates into expulsion. Details on new places and sites are due after 1 January.
How overcrowded are Chile’s prisons?
Security Minister Martín Arrau says they hold about 66,000 people in space for 40,000. That leaves a shortfall of roughly 26,000 places.
Will Chile build a prison like El Salvador’s CECOT?
No, Arrau said the government is not thinking of a CECOT-style mega-prison. The plan relies on faster modular construction instead.
Which foreign inmates could be expelled?
Arrau pointed to Bolivians serving short drug-trafficking sentences who are close to release. The change needs a bill that has not yet passed Congress.
Sources: 24 Horas (TVN), Estado Nacional interview with Martín Arrau, 18 October 2026, Chamber of Deputies of Chile, bill 15408-25 passed, 13 December 2022, El Mostrador, Arrau interview on TVN’s Estado Nacional, 18 October 2026, 24 Horas (TVN), Arrau on El Salvador’s prisons, 18 August 2026, El Dínamo, 2022 judicial expulsion bill, 11 October 2022. All retrieved 19 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error