US EditionInmates in 3 Guatemalan prisons hold dozens of guards hostage
- On Jan 17, inmates at Renovación I, Preventivo and Frajanes prisons rioted and took at least 46 hostages, mostly guards and one psychologist.
- Moves to transfer and isolate gang leaders preceded the coordinated riots, with authorities reporting the unrest followed transfers to maximum-security custody and identifying Barrio 18 gang members.
- Videos and photos showed masked prisoners perched in patrol towers amid small fires, while firefighters and ambulances were dispatched and National Police and army secured perimeters.
- Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said he would speak but not give in to demands, security forces maintained perimeters, and authorities reported no hostages killed while another report said one guard was shot.
- Guatemala has struggled to control its prison population in recent years amid rampant gang influence, and an October prison escape of 20 Barrio 18 leaders triggered resignations and a national crisis.
72 Articles
72 Articles
Chicago Tribune
Independent EspañolBy MOISÉS CASTILLO ESCUINTLA, Guatemala (AP) — Hundreds of riot police entered a maximum security prison in Guatemala early on Sunday to release the guards who had been taken hostage and regain control of the facility that houses gang leaders. Shots were heard as police entered Renovación prison, some 76 kilometers (about 47 miles) south-west of Guatemala City. Approximately 15 minutes later, an Associated Press journalist saw the guards being e…
The Independent
The Independent (US)Guatemalan police storm maximum security prison freeing guards held hostage
No injuries or fatalities were immediately reported following the police action
Hundreds of riot police entered a maximum-security prison in Guatemala this morning
According to Guatemala's Interior Minister, Marco Antonio Villeda, a group of prisoners has coordinated a riot in three prisons, taking at least 46 people hostage. See more in the video.
Members of criminal groups mutated on Saturday 18 January in several prisons in Guatemala. According to the authorities, they have protested since 2025 against the transfer of their leaders to a high-security prison.
In Guatemala's prisons there are always riots and violence. Now criminal gang members take control of several detention centres and take hostages as many as never before. The government refuses to respond to the demands of the perpetrators so far.
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