Guatemala court authorizes megaprison for 2,000 dangerous inmates

Guatemala's highest court, the Constitutional Court, has given the green light for the construction of a megaprison designed to house 2,000 dangerous inmates. This decision overturns a previous ruling that had halted the project, allowing construction to proceed.

The prison, dubbed "El Triunfo," is a key initiative by President Bernardo Arévalo's administration to tackle rampant gang activity. It will be located on a property seized from a drug trafficker in the Izabal region, approximately 290 kilometers northeast of the capital. President Arévalo had initially laid the first stone for the facility on March 27, but an appeals court ordered a construction stop the same day.

Defense Minister Henry Sáenz had filed a successful appeal, arguing that the appeals court lacked the jurisdiction to issue the halt order. "With this ruling, we can now build the prison," Sáenz stated, indicating that construction is expected to restart within two weeks. The project faces an estimated cost of $130 million and was initially slated for completion within a year.

Concerns had been raised that the prison's construction could lead to flooding and necessitate the emergency transfer of inmates, posing a risk to the public. The government, however, insists that "El Triunfo" is not a replica of El Salvador's controversial "Center for Terrorism Confinement" (Cecot), a flagship project of President Nayib Bukele's anti-gang offensive. Bukele's administration has implemented a state of exception, leading to mass arrests and accusations of human rights violations by NGOs.

“

With this ruling, we can now build the prison.