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Inmates Stand Down After Taking 8 Prison Guards Hostage in Guatemala
Inmates at a maximum-security prison outside this capital who took eight guards hostage ended their rebellion on Tuesday and freed the last of the captives, Guatemala’s interior minister said.
“The five guards were liberated after several hours of dialogue and without the use of force,” Mauricio Lopez told reporters.
The inmates released three hostages Monday night.
“There was no negotiation with the rebels, instead they were persuaded to abandon the action,” the minister said.
Once all the guards were safe, he said, authorities restored order in Fraijanes II prison – “fortunately without using violence” – and began the process of transferring the 156 inmates to other facilities to allow repairs of the damage resulting from the rebellion.
Officials had given the mutinous inmates until 6:00 a.m. Tuesday to release the remaining captives.
The inmates rioted to press their demands for better food and expanded family visits. Lopez pledged to look into the inmates’ grievances and said the participants in the uprising will not face reprisals.
Convicts serving time at Fraijanes II include Daniel Perez, an operative of Mexico’s Los Zetas drug cartel implicated in several massacres in Guatemala.
Published in Notitas de Noticias
2012-11-21 04:09:01
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