3 officers killed in gang uprising as inmates riot at hellish Guatemalan prisons

Three officers were killed and dozens were taken hostage in a coordinated series of prisoner uprisings at three notorious Guatemalan detention centers, followed by a spate of attacks against police in the streets.

Hundreds of riot cops swarmed the known hellhole Renovación prison in Escuintla on Sunday to regain control of the facility and rescue several guards who had been captured by inmates.

Security forces enter the Renovation maximum-security prison to free guards taken hostage and retake control of the facility, which houses gang leaders, in Escuintla, Guatemala. AP

Members of the National Civil Police stand next to redetained inmates lying on the ground, following security forces regaining control of the Renovacion 1 prison where inmates rioted. via REUTERS

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said nine guards were taken hostage at the facility, and roughly three-dozen other guards had been captured at two other prisons in an organized insurrection by convicts.

The rescue effort melee lasted about 15 minutes before guards were spied exiting the facility under escort — no injuries or deaths were immediately reported.

Soon after control of the prison was regained, armed thugs began attacking police officers in Guatemala City, the nation’s capital, in which three people were killed and at least five others wounded, National Civil Police Director David Custodio Boteo told the outlet.

Five of the attackers were arrested after roughly 10 attacks.

The country’s interior ministry said the riots at Renovación prison in Escuintla were the result of prison officials’ recent decision to revoke privileges from some gang-leader inmates, according to AP.

“In Guatemala, we don’t negotiate with terrorists nor with organized crime,” a statement by the interior ministry read.

“We also don’t allow groups that have sown fear to impose their conditions.”