US EditionWhat's driving Guatemala's surge in gang violence?
Gang leaders order crimes from prisons amid corruption allegations as violence kills 10 police officers, intensifying political pressure on Guatemala's government, officials said.
- Last week, a prison riot led by Aldo Dupie, alias `El Lobo`, involved hostage-taking at three prisons and triggered a security operation that killed 10 police officers, leading to Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda's dismissal.
- The transfer of five top leaders to high-security custody escalated gang violence as officials say they continued ordering executions, selling drugs, and extorting money from prison, while Barrio 18 gang and MS-19 gang control penitentiaries fuels unrest.
- Only six recaptured; one was shot and killed after the breakout, amid allegations of prison authorities' complicity, exposing institutional weakness.
- President Bernardo Arévalo declared a 30-day state of emergency and blamed `criminal-political elites`, while pressure mounts to crack down on crime and officials before Guatemala's general election next year.
- Consuelo Porras, former attorney general, has been accused of protecting criminals and denies the claims; she has been sanctioned by the United States and European Union amid a judicial shake-up involving the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Constitutional Court, and new attorney general.
43 Articles
43 Articles
Malay Mail
AlKhaleej TodayWhat’s driving Guatemala’s surge in gang violence?
GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 24 —The worsening gang warfare in Guatemala has piled pressure on President Bernardo Arevalo to crack down on crime and root out corrupt officials accused of links to organised crime.The murder of 10 police officers last week in retaliation for the put-down of a prison mutiny caused deep shock in the Central American nation of around 18 million people.The standoff began when gang members took dozens of guards hostage at three…
Ten policemen shot dead, 46 hostages in three prisons, state of siege decreed: in three days of orchestrated chaos, organized crime plunged the country of Central America into a spiral of terror that reveals the impotence of the authorities.
ABC FOX Montana
What's driving Guatemala's surge in gang violence?
The worsening gang warfare in Guatemala has piled pressure on President Bernardo Arevalo to crack down on crime and root out corrupt officials accused of links to organized crime.
Guatemala. Indignant, fearful and with semi-empty streets, Guatemalans lived on Monday the first day of a state of siege decreed by the government after the murder of ten police officers at the hands of gang members, for whom they now demand the maximum punishment. Fear erupted among the inhabitants of the capital and its neighboring localities, where on Sunday several attacks were recorded against police facilities and patrols in retaliation fo…
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