 It was operational from 1956 to 2002 and, at its peak, was South America's largest penitentiary, housing over 8,000 inmates.In 1992 it was the site of the Carandiru massacre.Drauzio Varella, a noted Brazilian physician, volunteered as an unpaid physician in Carandiru from 1989 to 2001, in particular to address its AIDS epidemic.