STORY: Guatemalan security forces worked on Saturday (January 17) to regain control of three prisons after rioting inmates took at least 46 people hostage in an incident authorities attributed to gang members demanding greater privileges.

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said the riots were coordinated across the three facilities, allegedly organized by the Barrio 18 gang whose leader sought transfer to another center for better conditions and special treatment, according to the ministry.

At the maximum security Renovacion 1 prison in Escuintla, masked inmates occupied watchtowers while police and soldiers formed a perimeter outside with ambulances and fire trucks on standby, and prisoners set mattresses ablaze to protest inspections by the penitentiary system, according to Police Chief Jaime Martinez.

The hostages included mostly security guards plus one psychologist, with no deaths or injuries reported by Saturday afternoon, according to Villeda, who vowed not to negotiate with what he called terrorist groups or restore privileges to gang leaders.

While hostage situations involving prison guards have occurred previously in Guatemala, the current number of hostages is notably higher than past incidents, according to authorities.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: ESCUINTLA, GUATEMALA (JANUARY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF SECURITY FORCES OFFICERS GUARDING OUTSIDE PRISON

2. VARIOUS OF RIOTING INMATES ON PRISON'S MIRADOR OR PRISON TOWER LOOKOUT POINT

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANONYMOUS RIOTING INMATE, SAYING:

"How are they going to protect our lives here in this place? Right? At no time because look at the state of this prison."

4. RIOTING INMATE GOING DOWN LADDER AT LOOKOUT POINT

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANONYMOUS RIOTING INMATE, SAYING:

"What we want is to be transferred to the prisons where we came from because we were transferred here."

6. RIOTING INMATES STANDING ON PRISON'S MIRADOR

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANONYMOUS RIOTING INMATE, SAYING:

"They can't even guarantee their own security, so how can they guarantee ours?"

8. VARIOUS OF ARMED FORCES OFFICER GUARDING, FACING INMATES FROM OUTSIDE THE PRISON

9. PRISON COMPOUND

10. ENTRANCE TO MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON CALLED "RENOVACION 1"

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POLICE CHIEF, JAIME MARTINEZ, SAYING:

"What caught our attention is that the inmates burned some mattresses and other items they had inside the prison. They set them on fire, expressing that they are dissatisfied with the inspection that the penitentiary system is conducting."

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (JANUARY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

12. POLICE OFFICERS STANDING GUARD OUTSIDE PRISON

ESCUINTLA, GUATEMALA (JANUARY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POLICE CHIEF, JAIME MARTINEZ, SAYING:

"The head of the penitentiary system reports that those who were in the watchtowers, guarding the security of the inmates, were detained by them. Five personnel are in the hands of the inmates."

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (JANUARY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

14. OFFICERS SITTING IN BACK OF POLICE VEHICLE DRIVING AWAY

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FIREFIGHTER VOLUNTEER, LEANDRO AMADO, SAYING:

"We also mobilized fire units because a fire broke out inside the Escuintla detention center. Right now we're waiting for more information from the personnel there."

16. ARMED FORCES OFFICER STANDING GUARD OUTSIDE PRISON

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FIREFIGHTER VOLUNTEER, LEANDRO AMADO, SAYING:

"According to the internal protocol of detention centers, emergency units must remain on the outside. Once they have access and have total control of the detention center, of the internal part, then we can enter where the injured people are."

18. ARMED FORCES OFFICER OUTSIDE PRISON