Interview with Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni

Abstract

The interview with Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni, conducted by Fábio Sanchez, addresses the failure of Latin American criminal systems and the need for immediate reduction in the number of criminal laws and custodial sentences. Zaffaroni argues that punitive power is exercised by executive agencies, notably the police, which select the vulnerable according to racist and classist stereotypes, while corrupt and powerful individuals remain unpunished. He proposes drug decriminalization, effective victim reparation through the offender's labor, and temporal limits on penalties. He criticizes penal inflation, the discredit of Justice, and the transfer of national security ideology from armies to police forces.