{"id":63652,"date":"2026-01-18T22:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T03:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/?p=63652"},"modified":"2026-01-18T22:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T03:36:47","slug":"guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Guatemala declares state of siege after gang attacks kill 8 police officers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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 Ar\u00e9valo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a nationally televised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iMS854E9kBA\">address<\/a> late Sunday, Ar\u00e9valo announced a 30-day state of siege across the entire country, effective immediately, saying it would allow the \u201cfull use of state power\u201d to combat gangs and prevent what he described as terrorist actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ar\u00e9valo said the attacks against police officers on Sunday followed coordinated prison riots on Saturday at three facilities, Renovaci\u00f3n 1, the Zona 18 preventive detention center and Fraijanes 2, where inmates took about 40 hostages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ar\u00e9valo 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 \u201cwithout a single casualty to mourn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese killings were intended to terrorize the security forces and the public in an attempt to make us yield,\u201d Ar\u00e9valo said. \u201cThey will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The president said the prison riots were an attempt by gangs to force the state to grant \u201cillegal privileges\u201d that had been allowed for years. He said the government is \u201cregaining control of prisons where there was previously no law or order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guatemalan authorities said the prison unrest was ordered by a Barrio 18 leader identified as Aldo Dupie Ochoa Mej\u00eda, also known as \u201cEl Lobo,\u201d who has since been reapprehended at the prison where he was being held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/usembassyguate\/status\/2013066697305997391\">later said<\/a> it lifted a shelter-in-place order for its personnel but warned the situation remained tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ar\u00e9valo 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 Ar\u00e9valo. In a nationally televised address late Sunday, Ar\u00e9valo announced a 30-day state of siege across the entire country, effective immediately, saying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":63653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4183,4182,420],"class_list":["post-63652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-bernardo-arevalo","tag-gang-violence-in-guatemala","tag-guatemala"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Guatemala declares state of siege after gang attacks kill 8 police officers - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guatemala declares state of siege after gang attacks kill 8 police officers - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 Ar\u00e9valo. In a nationally televised address late Sunday, Ar\u00e9valo announced a 30-day state of siege across the entire country, effective immediately, saying [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bnonews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-19T03:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260118GuatemalaPrisonRiots.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos Robles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bnonews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bnonews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos Robles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carlos Robles\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0a2ca734b9c5688c0e2d40fe6f33add1\"},\"headline\":\"Guatemala declares state of siege after gang attacks kill 8 police officers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-19T03:36:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-19T03:36:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/\"},\"wordCount\":407,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260118GuatemalaPrisonRiots.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bernardo Arevalo\",\"Gang violence in Guatemala\",\"Guatemala\"],\"articleSection\":[\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/guatemala-declares-state-of-siege-after-gang-attacks-kill-8-police-officers\/\",\"name\":\"Guatemala declares state of siege after gang attacks kill 8 police officers - 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