Gangs in Guatemala stage prison riots to demand the return of 10 leaders moved to another prison

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Members of Guatemala’ s two largest gangs — Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha — staged riots in two Guatemalan prisons on Tuesday, demanding the return of 10 leaders who were sent to another prison and placed in solitary confinement.

Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez told The Associated Press that the gang members are holding at least six guards — one of whom was shot — hostage in two prisons in Guatemala City.

According to Jiménez, the rioters were demanding Guatemalan authorities return their leaders from the prison where they were transferred, Renovación I, to the prisons where they were able to lead the gangs and “exercised criminal power.”

“The Guatemalan state will not bow down to you,” Jiménez posted on his official social media account.

The transfer of the gang leaders took place just over a month after the massacre of seven people at a funeral home while they were mourning another alleged gang member. Authorities have blamed the gangs for recent violence in the country, which Jiménez said was fueled by ongoing conflict between the rival groups.

Jiménez assured that the government will not give in to the gang members’ threats and that they will continue to have “no privileges, no concessions. … The security and peace of Guatemalans is far above any threat from these criminals,” he said.