State of emergency declared in Guatemala after gangs seize prisons, kill eight cops

Key Highlights

• "I have decided to declare a state of emergency throughout the national territory for 30 days,  starting today," Arevalo said in a national address.
• Arevalo announced that security forces had retaken control of all three prisons where gang members had been holding dozens of hostages since Saturday.
• The state of emergency suspends some provisions of the constitution as Guatemala battles the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs.
• Both criminal groups are deemed "terrorist" organizations by the United States and Guatemala and accused of contract killings, extortion, and drug trafficking.
• In a statement increasing an earlier toll by one, Guatemala's police said it "regrets the death of eight of its officers in the line of duty at the hands of criminals." Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda earlier told a press conference he was deeply saddened by the "cowardly" killing of police officers "by these terrorists, in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them." Also Read | Did you know?