What happened in January 2026 with the state of siege in Guatemala?

On Jan 17, 2026 there were simultaneous riots in three prisons (Renovación I in Escuintla, Fraijanes II and the zone 18 remand center), attributed by Mingob to Barrio 18,… with hostages taken (43 according to AP; 46 according to El Imparcial/CNN) and armed attacks on police (7 dead in the first reports; 10 according to AP and Democracy Now as of 20 Jan). President Arévalo decreed a state of siege across the whole national territory for 30 days, Governmental Decree 1-2026, announced on Jan 18, 2026, published in the official gazette (Diario de Centro América) on Jan 19, 2026 and ratified by Congress, with army deployment and the suspension of classes; the US Embassy issued an alert with a temporary shelter-in-place for its personnel. Subsequent normalization: in June 2026, 265 homicides were recorded (8.83 a day), an annualized rate of 16.3.