Guatemalan lawmaker and three police officers killed in armed attack

A Guatemalan lawmaker and three police officers have been killed in an armed attack, according to the country’s authorities.

The attack on Friday targeted Congressman Julio Portillo, who was in the town of Rio Hondo, in the eastern Zacapa department, which is known for drug trafficking activity.

Portillo was 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.

“President Luis Contreras, members of the Board of Directors and lawmakers mourn the tragic passing of Congressman Julio Cesar Portillo Paz, representative of the Zacapa district,” Guatemala’s Congress posted late Friday on X.

President Bernardo 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.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attack or identified ⁠who was responsible.

The Lorenzana family cartel, which has links to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, controls the drug trade in Zacapa.

Portillo won his seat in 2023 for the opposition party Cabal, but has since switched to the National Unity of Hope party led by former First Lady Sandra Torres.

She is expected to run for president in Guatemala’s elections next year.

The killings come ⁠about three weeks after former anticorruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa was shot dead in Guatemala City, a case that ‌heightened concerns about organised crime’s influence and the possible return of politically motivated assassinations.

Authorities have not established ‌a ‌connection between the two attacks.