Guatemala orders 30-day emergency after police deaths and prison hostage-taking

President Bernardo Arévalo has declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat criminal gangs after authorities accused them of killing eight police officers and holding hostages at three prisons, officials said. The killings occurred in Guatemala City and surrounding areas.

The hostage incidents began when gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage across three prisons to demand incarcerated gang leaders be moved to lower-security facilities. Arévalo said authorities had retaken control of all three prisons on Sunday. Police earlier announced the deaths of eight officers “in the line of duty at the hands of criminals”, and the interior minister, Marco Antonio Villeda, said the killings were carried out “by these terrorists, in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them”.

Ten other police officers were wounded in retaliatory attacks and one suspected gang member was killed, he said. At dawn on Sunday, police and the army entered the Renovacion I maximum-security prison in Escuintla using armoured vehicles and teargas; an AFP photographer said authorities regained control after 15 minutes and freed guards being held hostage.

Villeda said nine hostages were rescued there. Security forces also freed 28 hostages at Fraijanes II and nine at Preventivo, and the interior ministry published a video showing an alleged Barrio 18 leader identified as Aldo Dupie, alias “El Lobo”, in bloodstained clothing.

Key Topics

World, Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala City, Renovacion I Prison, Mara Salvatrucha