Guatemala declares state of siege after gang violence kills 7 police officers

Audio By Carbonatix

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo declared a 30-day state of siege Sunday after suspected gang members in Guatemala’s capital killed seven police officers in apparent retaliation for authorities in the country’s southwest retaking control of one of three maximum security prisons where inmates had rioted and taken hostages the day before.

The attacks on police in and around Guatemala City came after hundreds of anti-riot police stormed Renovación prison in Escuintla, about 47 miles (76 kilometers) southwest of the capital, to free nine guards who had been taken hostage there. Jailed gang leaders often order members outside the prison walls to carry out retaliatory attacks.

“They rioted in the prisons and took hostages with the intention of making the state accept their demands, which for decades were granted,” Arévalo said on national television Sunday. The attacks that followed the retaking of those prisons Sunday, were “an attempt to terrorize security forces and the population so that the government relents in its head-on fight against the gangs.”

The president said all of the hostage guards were freed Sunday. The gangs' audacious attempt to challenge authorities was a sign that his administration's security efforts were working, Arévalo said.

Arévalo’s state of siege still requires congressional approval, but can take effect before that vote occurs. The constitution allows such a declaration in cases of serious violence, insurrection or action by organized crime groups that exceeds the ability of civilian authorities to respond.

The declaration can limit some constitutional rights like the freedoms of movement, gathering and protest. The president said it was necessary to ensure the safety of Guatemalans and allow the government to use all its resources to combat the gangs.

Shots rang out as riot squads swept into the facility that houses gang leaders. About 15 minutes later, an Associated Press journalist saw the freed guards being escorted from the prison. They appeared to be unharmed. No injuries or deaths were immediately reported.

Later on Sunday, authorities retook control of the other two prisons in the capital, freeing six guards at one and 28 at the other, according to National Civil Police.

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry had said 46 guards were being held hostage. It was not immediately clear what explained the discrepancy with the 43 freed on Sunday.

Inmates took control of the three prisons the day before in a coordinated uprising to protest prison administrators’ decision to strip privileges from some incarcerated gang leaders.

As security forces tried to assert control, apparent retaliatory attacks took place outside the prison walls. Armed gangs killed seven national police officers in assaults across Guatemala City, Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said. The clashes wounded another 10 officers, he added, and killed one gang member.

He said police so far have arrested seven gang members, confiscated two rifles and seized two vehicles, praising the police response as “the result of not negotiating with criminals.”

"The state will not kneel before these criminals,” he said, portraying the attacks on police officers and coordinated prison riots as a response to the government's intensifying crackdown on organized crime.

The Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs are powerful in Guatemala, as they are in neighboring Honduras and had been in El Salvador until President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency in March 2022 after gangsters killed dozens.

El Salvador's state of emergency, which suspends some constitutional rights like access to an attorney, remains in place and more than 90,000 people have been arrested under it.

Other Central American leaders have been under pressure to adopt similarly harsh tactics to deal with gang crime. Last week, Bukele visited Costa Rica to observe a groundbreaking ceremony for a new prison styled on one he built in El Salvador.

With tensions high, the Ministry of Education said it would suspend classes across the Central American country for Monday the 19th “to prioritize the safety” of students and teachers.

The police reinforced guards at several prisons and increased joint patrols with the military.