La Esperanza (prison)

For other uses, see Esperanza (disambiguation).

La Esperanza

Location	San Salvador, El Salvador
Coordinates	13°45′25″N89°11′24″W / 13.757°N 89.190°W / 13.757; -89.190
Status	Operational
Security class	Maximum security prison
Capacity	10,000
Population	33,000(as of 2023)
Opened	1972 [1]
Managed by	Ministry of Justice and Public Security

La Esperanza, also known as Mariona, is a prison in El Salvador. Located on the northern outskirts of the city of San Salvador, it was the largest prison in El Salvador before the opening of the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), with a population of 33,000 in 2023. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

References

1. Inside Nayib Bukele’s prisons, Eric Lemus, October 15, 2024, Expediente Público, https://www.expedientepublico.org/inside-nayib-bukeles-prisons/
2. El Salvador opens 40,000-person prison as arrests soar in gang crackdown, Reuters, February 1, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-opens-40000-person-prison-arrests-soar-gang-crackdown-2023-02-01/. Quote: "El Salvador's largest prison, La Esperanza, currently holds 33,000 people despite having a capacity of 10,000."
3. United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, El Salvador: Information on the Mariona prison, formally named La Esperanza, in San Salvador, 21 August 2001, SLV01005.ZAR, https://webarchive.archive.unhcr.org/20230521054121/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3decdc994.html
4. Human Rights Watch declaration on prison conditions in El Salvador for the J.G.G. v. Trump case, 20 March 2025, https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/20/human-rights-watch-declaration-prison-conditions-el-salvador-jgg-v-trump-case
5. Cómo fue estar preso en El Salvador: “Se subían encima de él como que si era un resorte”, Caterina Morbiato, Los Angeles Times, Jun. 16, 2024, https://www.latimes.com/espanol/california/articulo/2024-06-16/como-fue-estar-preso-en-el-salvador-se-subian-encima-de-el-como-que-si-era-un-resorte