8 killed as gang attacks hit prisons, police in Guatemala

Guatemalan authorities reported eight deaths and the first arrests on Sunday after violent gang attacks targeted prisons and police.

Gangs linked to the Barrio 18 criminal organization carried out coordinated attacks on three penitentiaries and the National Police, killing seven officers and one suspected gang member and wounding 10 others, Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said at a news conference following the attacks.

Inmates seized control of prison facilities in attacks that began on Sunday morning at three different sites, taking several officers hostage, Villeda said, adding that the prison riots were accompanied by six coordinated attacks against National Police officers in various parts of the country.

Noting that the National Police deployed troops in an attempt to regain control, he said that by the afternoon, one of the penitentiaries, Renovacion 1 — located on the outskirts of the city of Escuintla — had been secured and the inmates detained.

However, the clashes continued at the other two prisons.

Authorities reported that the attacks were coordinated and ordered by Aldo Dupie Ochoa, a Barrio 18 leader also known as El Lobo, who sought to exert control over the penitentiaries in order to allegedly secure privileges during his sentence and be transferred to another prison.

Ochoa had previously attempted to obtain special accommodations, including air conditioning in his cell and special meals from restaurants.

Villeda pledged to use the full force of the state against those responsible for the attacks and vowed to take direct action to end corruption and privileges within the prison system.

"I will not make any deal with any terrorist group. I will not give in to this blackmail, and I will not restore their privileges in exchange for them stopping their actions," vowed the interior minister.