Guatemalan lawmaker, 3 police officers killed in armed attack
A Guatemalan lawmaker and three police officers were killed in an armed attack in the eastern department of Zacapa, President Bernardo Arevalo said, condemning the violence and ordering security forces to help identify those responsible.
Lawmaker Julio Cesar Portillo Paz was attacked on Friday in Rio Hondo, Zacapa, and initially taken to a hospital with serious injuries. His death was later confirmed by the National Unity of Hope party, or UNE, to which he belonged.
Arevalo said the three National Civil Police officers killed in the attack had died in the line of duty and instructed security forces to cooperate with prosecutors investigating the killings.
“We will not allow criminal violence to prevail over the lives and safety of Guatemalans,” Arevalo said in a post on social media.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attack or identified who was responsible.
The killing comes about three weeks after former anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa was shot dead in Guatemala City, a case that heightened concerns over organised crime’s influence and the possible return of politically motivated assassinations. Authorities have not established a connection between the two attacks.
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