Security forces in Guatemala are trying to regain control of three prisons where a coordinated riot broke out, during which inmates took at least 46 hostages. The competent authorities state that members of criminal gangs who demand the return of earlier privileges are responsible for the rebellion.
Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said at a press conference that no hostages were killed or injured yesterday. According to available information, most of the hostages are prison guards, while there is also a psychologist among them.
Villeda stated that the riots broke out simultaneously in three penitentiary institutions and that, according to the authorities’ estimates, they were organized by the Barrio 18 gang. The riot, he said, followed after the leader of that group requested to be transferred to another prison with better conditions and special treatment. The Interior Ministry said the riots were a “direct response” to the authorities’ decision to end the privileges of jailed gang leaders.
In a dramatic escalation of gang violence in Guatemala’s prison system, inmates affiliated with the notorious Barrio 18 (18th Street) gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), and other groups have seized control of the country’s three main prisons. The rioting prisoners have taken at… pic.twitter.com/TfqtG8jeT1
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The minister said that the government will not give in under pressure. He emphasized that there will be no negotiations with criminal groups or return of privileges in exchange for an end to violence.
In the city of Escuintla, in the south of the country, police and military forces surrounded the Renovación 1 prison. Ambulances and fire services were deployed nearby for a possible intervention. Prisoners could be seen on guard towers, some in prison overalls, while others wore casual clothes and makeshift masks over their faces.
One of the prisoners, speaking to reporters from behind barbed wire, said they do not feel safe and are asking to be transferred to other facilities, questioning the prison authorities’ ability to guarantee their safety.
Although similar hostage situations in prisons have been recorded in Guatemala before, the authorities point out that this incident stands out due to the significantly larger number of hostages compared to previous cases.
(Vijesti.ba)
