The Penitentiary and Correctional Services Agency (DGSPC) initiated a landmark transfer this Wednesday, 19 November 2025, moving the first inmates from the congested La Victoria National Penitentiary to the new Las Parras Correction and Rehabilitation Center (CCR) in the municipality of San Antonio de Guerra in Santo Domingo province.
The first stage of the new Las Parras CCR, completed by the Ministry of Housing and Edifications (MIVED), can accommodate approximately 2,400 inmates across two functional quadrants.
The jail was built for 8,000 inmates during the Danilo Medina administration, with the Attorney General Office under Jean Alain Rodriguez using funds from the Odebrecht corruption case. At the end of his administration, Medina had announced the completion of the work, yet major legal and operational issues delayed its operation until now.
Santana Sánchez spoke of the contributions of the Executive Branch, Attorney General Yeni Berenice Reynoso, and key figures like Jorge Subero Isa (President of the Penitentiary Reform Monitoring Commission) in making the historic transfer possible.
The move, described as the beginning of La Victoria’s definitive closure, seeks to alleviate severe overcrowding and ensure humane living conditions for over 2,400 inmates in its initial phase.
The DGSPC director Roberto Santana announced the transfer of the first group of 300 on Wednesday, 19 November. He said groups of 300 will be transferred until the 2,400 capacity of the first phase is reached. The government has opened a first housing quadrant and the fifth administrative area quadrant.
The inmates are chosen by a multidisciplinary team that evaluated their legal status, conduct, skills and aptitudes. The selection process is linked to the First Penitentiary Cadastre being developed by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), with support from the National Statistics Office (ONE), to precisely identify the legal, educational, and employment status of every prisoner.
Listin Diario reported that Santana Sánchez personally oversaw the strict application of protocols and logistics for the transfer. He stated that the primary objective is to curb chronic overcrowding and usher in an era of deep improvements in the treatment of those deprived of liberty.
Santana Sánchez highlighted the grim reality of La Victoria, which was constructed in 1952 with an original capacity for 1,700 inmates but ballooned to house as many as 9,300 people—a figure he called a grave impact on human dignity.
“The country has attempted to replace La Victoria for the last 39 years, but it is not until now that this process can finally begin to materialize,” the DGSPC director remarked. He urged the Dominican people to be proud of the achievement and simultaneously vigilant to prevent such an experience from being repeated.
“This step begins the definitive closure of the La Victoria prison, which over the years has become a source of shame for Dominican society and the democratic system,” he asserted.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
El Caribe
El Nacional
20 November 2025