Guatemala’s interior minister said Sunday that seven police officers were killed in retaliation for the government’s failure to transfer gang leaders to a lower-security prison.
The killings came a day after gang members kidnapped 46 people in three prisons across the country. The police regained control of one of them on Sunday.
“I am deeply saddened by the death of seven officers of the National Civil Police, who were cowardly attacked by these terrorists, in response to the actions of the Guatemalan State against them,” Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said in a press conference.
Since mid-2025, gang members have staged uprisings in prisons to demand that their leaders be held in less severe conditions.
Villeda said on Saturday that the government will not restore the prisoners’ “privileges”.
NATIONAL CIVIL POLICE via Reuters 
Guatemala is particularly affected by criminal violence Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs, which are considered terrorist organizations by Central American countries and the United States.
Barrio 18 and MS-13 are rivals, fighting for territorial control in Guatemala, extorting shopkeepers, transport workers and civilians.
In October, Guatemalan authorities announced that 20 leaders of the Barrio 18 group had escaped from a prison. Only six were recovered, while another was shot dead.
Guatemala finished last year with a homicide rate of 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the world average.
At least in the last month 12 bodies were found In a wooded area outside Guatemala City, authorities linked the discovery to gang violence.
Authorities said last summer at least seven people died when armed groups entered the funeral of a member of Barrio 18.