Inmates hold dozens of guards hostage in three Guatemalan prisons

Key Highlights

• Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said he was willing to talk with the inmates, but would not accede to their demands in seeking the release of the 46 guards.
• Earlier Saturday, Villeda's agency said in a statement that the inmate uprising was a direct result of the prison administrators' decision to strip privileges from some imprisoned gang leaders.
• "In Guatemala, we don't negotiate with terrorists nor with organised crime," the statement said.
• "We also don't allow groups that have sown fear to impose their conditions." National Police were deployed around the affected prisons.
• There were no reports of injuries or deaths.