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Guatemala Declares 30-Day State of Siege After Coordinated Prison Riots and Police Killings

Officials blame gang-led uprisings over revoked prison privileges and insist they will not negotiate with inmates.

Overview

  • Security forces retook the Renovación I maximum-security prison in an early operation that freed nine hostages without reported casualties.
  • Hostage situations persist at Fraijanes II and the Preventivo facility, where authorities report 28 and 9 captives respectively as operations and talks continue.
  • The government attributes the unrest and subsequent violence primarily to Barrio 18, naming alleged leader Aldo Dupie, known as “El Lobo,” who was detained during the Renovación I action.
  • Retaliatory attacks on law enforcement left multiple officers dead, with officials reporting at least seven and later eight killed, and additional police wounded; several suspected gang members were arrested.
  • President Bernardo Arévalo ordered a nationwide state of siege, deployed army and police patrols, expanded detention powers, and suspended classes as part of the emergency response.