Guatemala declares 30-day state of emergency after prison uprisings and police deaths

Guatemala’s government declared a 30-day state of emergency on Sunday to crack down on gang violence, President Bernardo Arévalo said, empowering the national police and army to act against gangs and organized crime. He said the measure would not affect most Guatemalans; schools were suspended on Monday as a preventive step.

The declaration followed a surge of unrest that included uprisings at three prisons and the killing of eight police officers. Inmates took dozens of prison guards hostage on Saturday; the Ministry of the Interior said the uprisings were coordinated and were a response to authorities withdrawing privileges from leaders of criminal organizations.

Police regained control of the three prisons on Sunday and the guards were freed, the president said. Authorities blamed the killings on gangs, and Mr. Arévalo said the attacks were in retaliation for police regaining control of the prisons. He said he plans to work with the F.B.I.

and other U.S. agencies to combat drug gangs, whom he has said run the nation’s prisons and have unleashed a wave of violence. Mr. Arévalo, elected as a moderate in 2023, has struggled to deliver on promises to end corruption and curb drug cartels, and his reforms have faced opposition from the conservative establishment, the report said.

Key Topics

World, Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala, Prison Uprisings, National Police