August 15th, 1993, I land in Rio de Janeiro and have yet to secure my entrance to the prison. I have an interview scheduled with Julita Lemgruber, the director of the Department of Penal System (DESIPE) whom I had approached by correspondence from the United States. I had sent my portfolio and a letter clearly explaining the project and my intentions to document the prison for the purposes of art and history.

Negotiating with Julita is like a battle. Several times our conversations are interrupted by telephone calls from employees of the penitentiary system. They want to know how to proceed with transfers, escapes and problems with the prisoners. She resolves all questions with firmness and promptness.

After some time, Julita presents me a prepared contract approved by Nilo Batista, the Secretary of Justice and Vice Governor of Rio de Janeiro. The contract is designed, under penalty of law, to protect the Brazilian government from detrimental exposure.

DESIPE, and especially Julita, have reasons for these precautions. In the past, Brazilian reporters authorized to investigate Ilha Grande wrote compromising articles. Reporters gave prominence, for example, to parties that occurred in the prison. One wrote to have witnessed inmates drinking the Brazilian liquor cachaça which had been distilled within the penitentiary. Julita commented, "Everything is different inside the prison. The reporters can say one thing but in reality nobody wants to be there."

Earlier in her career, Julita had participated in a project within a women's penitentiary in Rio. "The guards always said that the prisoners were going to cut my body. They used to do this even between themselves. But when you are there and you are clear why you are there, the inmates see you differently. They believe in you."

Julita briefly describes conditions at the Caldron. She explains how the Comando Vermelho, the largest criminal organization of Brazil, was born at the Caldron and continues to exist in the prison. She tells me that the Comando Vermelho (C.V.) is considered to be active in Rio de Janeiro, but that she believes it is only structured inside the penitentiaries. Julita continues, "If a prisoner says that he is a member of the Comando Vermelho, he can be sent to three different prisons out of the 17 that exist in Rio. One is the maximum security prison of Bangu Um, another is Vicente Piragibe, and the other is the Penal Institution of Cândido Mendes, on Ilha Grande. At this prison, the leaders of the Comando Vermelho control all those incarcerated, a problem which DESIPE has tried to solve with very poor results."