Guatemalan authorities said several dozen prison guards were being held hostage by inmates in three prisons Saturday following disturbances that authorities described as apparently coordinated.
Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said he was willing to talk with the inmates, but would not accede to their demands in seeking the release of 46 guards.
Earlier Saturday, Villeda’s agency said the inmate uprising was a direct result of the prison administrators’ decision to strip privileges from some imprisoned gang leaders.
In a statement, the agency said, “In Guatemala, we don’t negotiate with terrorists nor with organized crime,” and added, “We also don’t allow groups that have sown fear to impose their conditions.”
National Police were deployed around the affected prisons. There were no reports of injuries or deaths, the authorities said.
Videos circulated on social platforms showed some prisoners demanding transfer.
The hostage situation comes against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of the government’s efforts to control gangs in prisons. In October, President Bernardo Arévalo accepted the resignations of three top security officials, including Villeda’s predecessor, after authorities admitted that 20 gang members had escaped over a period of days.
In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, Arévalo said, “The link between the prison system and the criminality outside has to be cut,” adding, “That’s why all this effort to regain control of the prison system is very important.”