News
What's happening at the cooperative.
A New Knowledge Laboratory Is Born: "The Prison as a Practice of Freedom"
Liberté and IRICE launched the Laboratorio de Saberes, a nine-session cycle that thinks about incarceration as a practice of freedom. Guests from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina, and over a hundred people in conversation simultaneously: the first step toward a collective book to be published in 2027.
PUPAA Liberté: the first community kitchen self-managed by incarcerated people to be officially authorized in the country
Liberté now has its kitchen officially authorized by the provincial government: the first community PUPAA self-managed by incarcerated people in the country. Inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán, healthy, safe, and artisanal food is prepared — sustaining the community life within.
Thinking security from inside prison — fifth year of the Liberté Diploma
Diana Márquez and Ricardo Augman, who share the general coordination, talk about the fifth year of a one-of-a-kind program: coordinated from inside a penitentiary unit by people in prison, crime victims, and formerly incarcerated people. An inside view of the project.
«Labor "Modernization" as the Destruction of Social Gains»: a class by two labor lawyers at Liberté
Labor lawyers Cynthia Benzion and Leonardo Elgorriaga taught an open class on labor reform in Liberté's territory. More than eighty people — between Zoom and in-person at Batán — traced a century of labor law, from Article 14 bis to the Ley de Modernización Laboral, with a focus on what those who live off their work stand to lose, including people in prison.
The Cátedra Libre is born: Universidad Liberté's classes, written down and open
We are launching the Cátedra Libre, the imprint with which Cooperativa Liberté publishes the full, written version of Universidad Liberté's gatherings —EnClave Libre, diploma courses, the Laboratorio de Saberes and workshops—. The first edition is already available.
Punishment cells: the dictatorship systematized them and democracy did not abolish them
At Batán Penitentiary Unit Nº15 the punishment cells —the extreme isolation device of the Buenos Aires prison system— were abolished. Three public bodies —CELS, the National Penitentiary Ombudsman and the Provincial Memory Commission—, the Argentine government itself before the UN Committee against Torture, an institutional investigation by the Ombudsman directed by Alcira Daroqui and Carlos Motto, and survivor testimonies from the Camps Circuit describe those cells as a common matrix with the dungeons of State terrorism.
At Liberté I found a little more peace of mind
After five years and three months at Batán's Unit 15, José Ignacio V. regained his freedom. In his final weeks he joined the Liberté community and, minutes before walking out, stopped by the radio to tell how he found work, calm and a little peace of mind there.
Proyecto Mecha closes: the suggestion boxes in Batán have been abolished
After nine years of campaigns, complaints, and a radio program built inside Batán without institutional permission, Proyecto Mecha announces its closure — mission accomplished. Block 7 of Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán has ceased to be a solitary confinement block.
We present "Laboratorio de Saberes," a 9-session series to rethink incarceration as a practice of freedom
Universidad Liberté, in partnership with the Research Team on Learning and Organizational Development (IRICE-CONICET-UNR), is launching a nine-session monthly dialogic series open to the entire community. The premise: "prison as a practice of freedom" — a radical shift from a treatment-based approach toward existential enablement. The first session, on May 30: "Co-Inspirers of Freedom," with panelists from Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, and Chile. 100% subsidized.
The Programa de Salud Mental launches in June: from pilot to permanent program
Eighteen people in prison completed, between October 2025 and May 2026, the pilot of Cooperativa Liberté's Community Mental Health Program, sustained by Cooperativa Liberté and community contributions, with administrative coordination by Mutual AMI. Care was provided entirely by videoconference. The permanent program starts in June.
Carlos B.: "Being part of Liberté makes me very happy"
He is 74 years old, comes from Misiones, and spent his whole life working in construction. Since July 2022 he has been part of Liberté, where he found community, purpose, and the ducks at the pond that come to eat right out of his hand.
Marathon for Peace: the world's first inside a prison
Two editions (March 2019 and November 2022) in which incarcerated people, victims, formerly incarcerated people, family members, professional marathon runners, and judicial officials ran together. Overseen by the Marathon Runners Federation. A third edition is in preparation.