Guatemala declares state of siege after gang attacks kill 8 police officers

Guatemala has declared a nationwide state of siege after coordinated gang attacks killed eight police officers and wounded others, following prison riots in which inmates took dozens of hostages, according to President Bernardo Arévalo.

In a nationally televised address late Sunday, Arévalo announced a 30-day state of siege across the entire country, effective immediately, saying it would allow the “full use of state power” to combat gangs and prevent what he described as terrorist actions.

He said the measure would not alter daily life, the functioning of public or private institutions, mobility, or political processes, adding that classes were suspended only for Monday as a preventive step.

Arévalo said the attacks against police officers on Sunday followed coordinated prison riots on Saturday at three facilities, Renovación 1, the Zona 18 preventive detention center and Fraijanes 2, where inmates took about 40 hostages.

Arévalo said a joint operation by the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry reestablished full state control over the prisons, freed all hostages, and restored order “without a single casualty to mourn.”

Gangs linked to Barrio 18 retaliated by launching coordinated attacks against the National Police in Guatemala City and nearby areas, killing eight officers and injuring at least 10 others. Authorities said one suspected gang member was killed during the clashes and several others were arrested.

“These killings were intended to terrorize the security forces and the public in an attempt to make us yield,” Arévalo said. “They will fail.”

The president said the prison riots were an attempt by gangs to force the state to grant “illegal privileges” that had been allowed for years. He said the government is “regaining control of prisons where there was previously no law or order.”

Guatemalan authorities said the prison unrest was ordered by a Barrio 18 leader identified as Aldo Dupie Ochoa Mejía, also known as “El Lobo,” who has since been reapprehended at the prison where he was being held.

The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala issued a security advisory on Sunday urging U.S. citizens to exercise increased caution due to armed attacks against police in Guatemala City. The embassy later said it lifted a shelter-in-place order for its personnel but warned the situation remained tense.

Arévalo also announced three days of national mourning for the slain officers, saying the government would not negotiate with criminal groups or tolerate acts of terror.