Guatemalan authorities freed hostages on Monday who were being held by gang members in two prisons, including a juvenile facility, in riots attributed to retaliation for the transfer of gang leaders to a maximum-security prison.
On July 30, the government relocated 10 imprisoned leaders of the violent Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs to the Renovación I prison in the south of the country, where they are isolated and without access to cell phones.
Since then, riots have been reported in five prisons in the country, where imprisoned gang members took guards hostage, who were later released. In mid-August, a guard was killed in the El Boquerón prison (southeast) during one of the uprisings.
The head of the Presidential Secretariat of Social Welfare, Marvin Rabanales, told reporters that police forcibly freed three hostages from the Specialized Center for Juvenile Reinsertion in Guatemala City after “negotiations” with the gang members to release them failed.
The hostages freed were employees delivering food at the center. They were injured in the clash and taken to hospitals, according to an AFP photographer.
Without Accepting Demands
The riot was started by 34 adult Mara Salvatrucha gang members who remain in that juvenile center because the law requires minors to serve their entire sentence in the correctional facility where they were placed, even after turning 18.
The 34 gang members were transferred Monday night to court to face charges for the riot. From a bus, one of them told reporters that they demanded their “homies” (companions) be returned to Pavoncito prison (east), where they had been before being moved to maximum security.
“They wanted to negotiate for their leaders to be released from Renovación I, but we don’t negotiate with criminals,” Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez stated on X.
Outside the juvenile prison, distressed relatives gathered to learn about their imprisoned family members. “We came as mothers to ask for information, to see how our children are,” Ingrid Melgar told AFP.
Freed in El Boquerón
The other riot took place in the adult El Boquerón prison, where gang members took two prison officials’ hostage, according to local media.
The Interior Ministry, in a message, said that after several hours the hostages “were released,” without detailing the number of people held or whether force was used for their release.
“At this moment there are no problems in the prisons,” the public security ministry added. President Bernardo Arévalo said in a morning press conference that the riots “arose from the decision” to transfer gang leaders.
“All privileges have been taken away,” said the president, justifying the decision and pointing out that the goal is to prevent gang leaders from continuing to “coordinate” criminal activities from prison.
The Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs—MS-13 has been declared a terrorist organization by Washington—fight for control of territories in Guatemala, where they extort shopkeepers, transport workers, and others. Those who refuse to pay are murdered.
These gangs also operate in Honduras, while in El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has jailed thousands of suspected gang members under a state of emergency criticized by human rights groups, which denounce thousands of arbitrary detentions.
