Security forces in Guatemala worked to retake control of three prisons on Saturday after inmates rioted and took at least 46 hostages, with officials blaming the incident on gang members demanding greater privileges.
Interior Minister Marco Antonio Viljeda told a press conference that no hostages were injured on Saturday, Reuters reported.
He said that the hostages were mostly prison guards, but that a psychologist was also among them.
Viljeda stated that prisoners coordinated riots in three prisons, which he claims were organized by the Barrio 18 gang, which rebelled because its leader asked to be transferred to another facility, in order to receive better conditions and special treatment.
The Interior Ministry said the riots were a direct reaction to the ministry's moves to remove the privileges of gang bosses.
"I will not make any deals with any terrorist group. I will not back down from this blackmail, nor will I return privileges in exchange for them stopping their actions," Viljeda said.
In the city of Escuintla, in the south of the Central American country, police and the army surrounded the Renovacion 1 prison, while fire and emergency vehicles stood nearby to intervene if necessary.
Although prison hostage crises have occurred in Guatemala before, the Escuintla uprising involves significantly more hostages than in past incidents.
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