GANG MEMBERS KILL WARDEN INSIDE GUATEMALAN JAIL

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000592 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM ASEC PGOV SNAR KJUS GT SUBJECT: GANG MEMBERS KILL WARDEN INSIDE GUATEMALAN JAIL ¶1. On May 1, imprisoned gang members killed Jorge Augusto Mendoza, Deputy Director of the Preventive Detention Center in Chimaltenango. Press reports indicate that the prisoners decapitated Mendoza after holding him hostage. The prison director and three guards were also taken hostage and suffered injuries during the riot, which lasted approximately six hours. Although the Chimaltenango facility is a pre-trial detention center, not a maximum-security prison, it reportedly houses 68 gang members, 33 of whom have been convicted. ¶2. Carlos Roberto de Leon, the Ministry of Government's Technical Advisor on Prisons, confirmed that the prisoners rioted after officials detained two women who attempted to bring marijuana into the prison for members of the M-18 (18th Street) Gang. According to de Leon, investigators have been unable to identify those responsible, and prisoners who may have witnessed the events refuse to name the guilty parties. Minister of Government Vinicio Gomez publicly acknowledged that the country's prisons do not have adequate security measures and that gang members cause problems wherever they are incarcerated. Derham