Guatemala declares state of emergency after eight police officers killed in prison gang violence

Guatemala’s president has declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat criminal gangs after authorities accused them of killing eight police officers and holding hostages at three prisons.The killings occurred in the capital, Guatemal City, and surrounding areas a day after gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage in the three prisons across the country to demand incarcerated gang leaders be moved to lower-security facilities.President Bernardo Arévalo said authorities had retaken control of all three prisons on Sunday.Hours earlier, police announced the deaths of eight officers “in the line of duty at the hands of criminals”.The interior minister, Marco Antonio Villeda, told a news conference that the killings were carried out “by these terrorists, in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them”.Ten other police officers were wounded in the retaliatory attacks, and one suspected gang member was killed, he said.On Sunday evening, Arévalo decreed the 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat the gangs.Riot police enter Zone 18 prison in Guatemala-city" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="6273" data-entity-type="location">Guatemala City. Photograph: Josue Decavele/ReutersThe measure, which must be approved by the opposition-controlled Congress, suspends the right of assembly and permits individuals to be arrested and interrogated without a court order.The opposition leader, Luís Contreras, who is president of Congress, called for unity to face “one of the most painful and challenging moments” in the country’s history.The US embassy in Guatemala advised its personnel to shelter in place and avoid crowds, while the government said schools would be shut on Monday.At dawn on Sunday, police, supported by the army, entered the Renovacion I maximum-security prison in Escuintla, about 75km (45 miles) south of Guatemala-city" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="6273" data-entity-type="location">Guatemala City, using armoured vehicles and teargas.An AFP photographer said they saw that after 15 minutes, the authorities regained control of the prison and freed guards being held hostage.Villeda said: “It was an operation that unfolded without casualties on either side, and we managed to rescue the nine hostages that these terrorists had in their power.”The interior ministry published a video on X showing officers handcuffing and leading away the alleged leader of the Barrio 18 gang, whom authorities identified as Aldo Dupie, alias “El Lobo” (The Wolf). He had bloodstained clothing.Barrio 18 and its rival gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) are blamed for much of the drug trafficking and criminal violence that plagues the Central American country.Washington has declared both groups to be terrorist organisations.Since Saturday morning, inmates had been holding 45 guards and a psychiatrist hostage to protest against the transfer of gang leaders to a maximum-security prison.The police and the army also freed 28 hostages at the Fraijanes II prison and another nine at Preventivo, east of and on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital, respectively.According to Arevalo, there had not been “a single casualty” during these operations.The defence minister, Henry Saenz, said the army would “remain on the streets” to continue “dismantling” criminal groups.Guatemala’s homicide rate in 2025 was 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the global average.