Un balón que hace olvidar los muros | Volver a empezar | Episodio 1 #Penitencia #México #futbol

The football tournament within Mexican prisons is not merely a recreational activity but a profound vehicle for rehumanization. It allows inmates to experience joy, competition, and a sense of belonging, momentarily transcending the dehumanizing reality of their incarceration. For many, it's a chance to 'inject life' and find motivation amidst despair.

One inmate states, 'For us, it's motivation, it's injecting life after so many foolish things we've done, that they give us this opportunity where we can laugh again, we can enjoy, for us it's great.' Another mentions, 'It helps me escape for a while from all kinds of emotions. You release frustration, if you're upset, you forget it.'

The host and several inmates highlight that a lack of parental presence, family support, and economic opportunity in childhood were critical factors pushing them towards a life of crime. This suggests that the 'violence' often begins not with an act, but with a societal or familial neglect that leaves individuals vulnerable.

The host states, 'The violence doesn't start with a weapon, it starts with abandonment, with an absence, with neglect.' One inmate, 'Winnie,' recounts, 'My first problem was when my grandmother passed away... my family nucleus started to distance itself... my father was never with us... my mother was absent... that's where my criminal life began.' Another, 'Pariente,' mentions being 'marvelled by easy money' after leaving football, driven by a desire to help his family with rent.

Historically, the Mexican prison system failed to adequately consider the specific needs of incarcerated women, housing them in ill-equipped sections of male prisons for decades. Even with dedicated women's centers, their stories often remain unheard, and many are innocent or driven to crime by extreme poverty and abuse.

The host details how 'for decades in Mexico City, there were no prisons specifically designed for women' and that 'the system did not consider them as a specific population.' An incarcerated woman expresses, 'There are many innocent people in here... people who didn't do things and they blame us.' She also notes, 'I have colleagues who are here for a 'gancito' because they were hungry... they didn't have food to take home.'

For some inmates, incarceration, despite its hardships, is paradoxically viewed as a pause or even a salvation from a potentially fatal life on the streets. The fast-paced, violent nature of their previous lives made prison a less immediate threat than remaining free.

One inmate, when asked if prison saved his life, responds, 'Yes, I think for an instant, because of the very accelerated lifestyle.' He recounts, 'When I arrived here, a few months later, a friend I used to hang out with daily was killed... I thought, 'Well, I would have been there.''