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Guatemala prisoners take workers hostages in riots across three facilities

Guatemala prisoners take workers hostages in riots across three facilities

Officials say 46 workers are being held, with gang members behind the riots seeking better conditions. By News Agencies Published On 18 Jan 202618 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Prisoners in Guatemala have taken at least 46 workers hostage in riots across three detention centres, according to authorities. Officials said the incidents, which began on Saturday, appeared to be coordinated by gang members in response to their leader seeking a transfer to another facility for better conditions. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list There were no reported deaths ​or injuries among the hostages, Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said at ‍a news conference. Villeda said those behind the riots were members of the Barrio 18 gang, while the Interior Ministry described the unrest as a “direct reaction” to its moves to revoke privileges from gang leaders. “I am not going to make any deals with any terrorist group. I will not give in to this blackmail, and ​I will not restore their privileges in exchange for them ‌stopping their actions,” Villeda said. The hostages are mostly guards, but also include a psychologist, a prison official said. At the Renovacion 1 maximum security prison in Escuintla in Guatemala’s south, police and soldiers formed a perimeter around the prison, as ambulances and firetrucks were ‌standing by to intervene if necessary. Inmates, some wearing jumpsuits but most in tank tops and shorts, their faces covered ‌by masks improvised with pieces of clothing, watched from ⁠above, perched in the prison’s patrol towers. One masked inmate, speaking from behind barbed wire, said they were not safe at the prison and were demanding to be moved. “They can’t even guarantee their own security, ‌so how are they supposed to guarantee ours?” he said, referring to prison authorities. Guatemala has struggled to control its prison population in recent years amid rampant gang influence. Inmates, meanwhile, have reported harsh and dangerous conditions. Advertisement In October, President Bernardo Arévalo accepted the resignations of three top security officials after 20 gang members escaped over a period of days. “The link between the prison system and the criminality outside has to be cut,” Arevalo said in an interview with The Associated Press news agency earlier this week. “That’s why all this effort to regain control of the prison system is very important.” Adblock test (Why?)

Border Patrol commander vows continued tear gas use after Minnesota fedreal judge’s order

Border Patrol commander vows continued tear gas use after Minnesota fedreal judge’s order

One of President Donald Trump‘s most prominent immigration enforcers vowed Saturday to continue using tear gas during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, after a Minnesota federal judge Friday barred federal officers from using it against peaceful protesters. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino said federal agents would continue deploying tear gas against violent protesters who “cross the line” amid ongoing unrest and heightened tension across the Twin Cities. “We’re going to continue to use that minimum amount of force necessary to accomplish our mission,” Bovino said Saturday on “Fox News Live,” adding that immigration officers have never used tear gas against “peaceful protesters.” “We always support the First Amendment, but when they cross the line and they’re violent, we will use those less lethal munitions because it keeps them safe, it keeps our officers safe, and it keeps the public safe,” Bovino said. THREE VENEZUELAN ILLEGALS ARRESTED AFTER ICE OFFICER ‘AMBUSHED AND ATTACKED’ DURING TRAFFIC STOP: NOEM Bovino’s comments after U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez issued a ruling Friday in a case filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, barring federal officers from detaining or deploying tear gas against peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities while participating in Operation Metro Surge. The ruling prohibits federal agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters or observers, adding that federal agents must show probable cause or reasonable suspicion that someone has committed a crime or is interfering with law enforcement operations. Federal agents cannot use pepper spray or other non-lethal munitions and crowd-dispersal tools against peaceful protesters, according to the ruling, and peacefully following officers “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop.” MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR WHO TOLD ICE TO ‘GET THE F— OUT’ NOW CALLS FOR PEACE AFTER ANOTHER SHOOTING INCIDENT The order came as tensions escalated in Minneapolis after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month during a federal immigration enforcement operation. Menendez noted in her ruling that the immigration crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Minnesota appears to be escalating. “There is no sign that this operation is winding down—indeed, it appears to still be ramping up,” she wrote. The City of Minneapolis applauded the court’s decision, while urging community members to be “peaceful and lawful” around immigration agents. TRUMP SAYS NO NEED TO INVOKE INSURRECTION ACT ‘RIGHT NOW’ AMID ANTI-ICE UNREST IN MINNESOTA “As this is a federal court order, we expect the federal administration to change course and comply for the safety of all,” the City wrote Saturday on X. “We applaud the court’s decision in the ACLU’s lawsuit, which prohibits federal immigration agents from targeting or retaliating against those peacefully and lawfully protesting or observing Operation Metro Surge operations.” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reacted to the ruling, saying that “this preliminary win matters for every Minnesotan exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest and witness.” “Thank you to the ACLU and the plaintiffs for standing firm in defense of this bedrock freedom,” he added. After the ruling, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that the First Amendment does not protect “rioting,” adding that DHS is “taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.” “We remind the public that rioting is dangerous—obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony,” McLaughlin said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Rioters and terrorists have assaulted law enforcement, launched fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, and vandalized federal property. Others have chosen to ignore commands and have attempted to impede law enforcement operations and used their vehicles as weapons against our officers.” McLaughlin added that law enforcement has followed their training and has “used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.”

Spanberger takes swipe at Trump admin, says Virginians worried about ‘recklessness coming out of Washington’

Democrat Abigail Spanberger took multiple swipes at the Trump administration Saturday as she was sworn in as Virginia’s first female governor.  Spanberger, who handily defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in November and takes over for Republican Glenn Youngkin, told a crowd at the State Capitol, “I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington.”  “You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities, cutting healthcare access, imperiling rural hospitals and driving up costs. You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service,” Spanberger said.  “You are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking, breaking, breaking the social safety net and sowing fear across our communities, betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values that we celebrate here on these steps. VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO SEIZE REDISTRICTING POWER, OPENING DOOR TO 4 NEW LEFT-LEANING SEATS “And across the Commonwealth, everything keeps getting a bit more expensive. Groceries, medicine, daycare, the electricity bill, rent and the mortgage. Families are strained, kids are stressed and so much just seems to be getting harder and harder,” Spanberger added.  “Growing up, my parents always taught me that when faced with something unacceptable, you must speak up. YOUNGKIN BACKS JD VANCE FOR 2028, CALLS VICE PRESIDENT A ‘GREAT’ GOP NOMINEE “You must take action. You must right what you believe is wrong and fix what isn’t working. And I know that some who are here today or watching from home may disagree with the litany of challenges and the hardships that I laid out,” Spanberger also said.  “Your perspective may differ from mine, but that does not preclude us from working together where we may find common cause.”  Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for a response to Spanberger’s remarks. “The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me. I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure women could be among those casting ballots,” Spanberger said at one point during her speech. Prior to her inauguration speech, Youngkin posted a video on X, saying it was an “honor of a lifetime” to serve the state.