Prisons have long been a gateway to trying to save society, when the only thing they do is harm the social order because they create more problems that are not addressed from the beginning. Crime has become a major problem in these difficult times linked to a poor economy, but it has particularly affected Latin America because of all the problems that overcrowded prisons have created. In Latin America, Brazil and Mexico are the two largest countries with the highest percentage of crimes, inmates and prison overcrowding problems. And these are rising with high crime rates in Latin America, which are rising due to the drug trafficking wars in Brazil and Mexico. “The country with the largest prison is Brazil, with 194,074 prisoners, followed by Mexico, with 144,261 prisoners” (Pinzon 1). These numbers are only increasing due to the lack of poorly trained civil servants and the financial limits allocated to programs intended to help them reintegrate into society (Dammert and Zuniga 9). As citizens, we have learned to view prisons as the last resort for incarcerating criminals, without being aware of the long-term consequences this will have on society. Prison systems are failing in Latin America because they are overcrowded to up to three times the capacity for which they were built (Pinzon 1). And this problem has caused higher crime rates as well as the spread of infectious diseases in prisons, particularly in Brazil and Mexico, because these countries have a higher prevalence of people who inject drugs (IDU) and because they go unnoticed (Dolan 36). Prison systems are difficult to sustain, especially in countries like Brazil and Mexico where crime is increasing like there is no tomorrow and...... middle of paper...... a problem now because the government is trying to fight crime as well as the war with drug cartels and in the last three years they have arrested over 67,000 criminals. The incarcerated inmates belong to different gangs and once inside the same walls, it creates riots, which means another war inside the prisons (Ellingwood). And in 2009, there was another riot in which 20 people died and 15 were injured, caused by drug cartels in Juarez (CNN). This happens often and will continue as long as the war on drugs remains a problem in Mexico. The more criminals there are from different gangs, the more it will cause riots inside the prisons. Besides all the riots and deaths caused by overcrowded prisons, another alarming problem that needs to be addressed is the spread of infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS..