Inmates accumulate at a security tower on the Renovacion 1 penal complex, as inmates at three Guatemalan prisons rioted on Saturday and took largely penal complex guards hostage, authorities talked about, in Escuintla, Guatemala, January 17, 2026.
| Photograph Credit rating: Reuters
Several dozen Guatemalan penal complex guards had been being held hostage by inmates in three prisons on Saturday (January 17, 2026) following it appears to be like coordinated disturbances, authorities talked about.
Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda talked about he turned into as soon as lively to talk with the inmates, nonetheless wouldn’t accede to their demands in searching for the launch of the 46 guards.
Earlier Saturday, Villeda’s agency talked about in an announcement that the inmate insurrection turned into as soon as a in an instant results of the penal complex directors’ decision to strip privileges from some imprisoned gang leaders.
“In Guatemala, we do now not negotiate with terrorists nor with organised crime,” the assertion talked about. “We furthermore don’t allow teams that admire sown bother to impose their circumstances.”
Nationwide Police had been deployed around the affected prisons. There had been no reports of accidents or deaths.
In videos circulated on social platforms, some prisoners demanded switch.
In October, President Bernardo Arévalo accredited the resignations of three top security officers, including Villeda’s predecessor, after authorities admitted that 20 gang contributors had escaped over a length of days.
“The link between the penal complex system and the criminality out of doors must be gash,” Mr. Arévalo talked about in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday (January 15, 2026). “As a result of this all this effort to glean regulate of the penal complex system is terribly considerable.”
Published – January 18, 2026 08:07 am IST
