Guatemala’s president declares 30-day state of emergency after prison riots

Following a weekend of violent behavior in which gang members claimed the lives of dozens of hostages across three prisons and apparently killed at least seven police officers in the capital, the country’s president has declared a state of emergency.

A 30-day order was issued on Sunday by President Bernardo Arevalo that restricted civil liberties and made it illegal for security personnel to question or arrest people without getting permission from the court. The legislature of Guatemala still needs to approve the emergency order, but it comes into effect right away.

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“These murders were committed with the intention of terrorizing the security forces and the populace,” according to the statement. But they’ll fail, Arevalo declared in a speech delivered across the country.

Following the attacks, the president declared three days of state mourning and said all hostages had been freed.

The gang leaders, including Aldo Duppie, the imprisoned leader of Guatemala’s Barrio 18, were enraged on Saturday when the administrators decided to impose restrictions on their privileges.

Barrio 18 and its rival Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), both of which were referred to as “foreign terrorist organizations” by the administration of US President Donald Trump in September, was followed by the Congress of Guatemala one month later.

On Saturday, gang-affiliated inmates held 46 prison guards and staff hostage in three prisons in and around Guatemala City, including Duppie, who is better known by his moniker El Lobo or The Wolf, in a maximum-security facility known as El Lobo or The Wolf.

Law enforcement officers escort the leader of the Guatemala branch of Barrio 18 (M-18) gang Aldo Dupie Ochoa Mejia, alias — After regaining control of the prison where inmates rioted, law enforcement officers accompany Aldo Duppie, the imprisoned leader of Guatemala’s Barrio 18, in this handout image [Handout/National Civil Police via Reuters].

Police and the military conducted a lightning strike at El Lobo’s prison early on Sunday morning, followed by subsequent raids on two more prisons the same day. The Barrio 18 leader was spotted posing with security personnel and sporting a bloody shirt.

Retaliatory attacks on police officers broke out shortly after the raids, according to authorities, killing at least seven and injuring ten. Eight police officers and one suspected gang member were among the deaths reported in some media reports.

Prior to this week’s release, Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda had previously attributed the police officers’ deaths to gang reprisals “in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them.”

According to Defense Minister Henry Saenz, the army will “remain on the streets” of Guatemala to continue its crackdown on gang members.