Abstract
Powerful U.S. ideologies of zero tolerance and safety go wild in Chile fear and suspicion against increasingly criminalized poverty. The 'illegalisms' of the poor are administered by the society and mainly by the prison, ‘institution‐depot’ to those who trouble the order, located in the right hand of the neo‐liberal State. In jail lives are hanging by a thread and if you die in brutal conditions it refers to its 'failure', just as it did with the recent fire in the prison of San Miguel. However, such failure constitutes its success. The communication I am presenting intends to reflect on the Chilean prisons and its close link with poverty.