Guatemalan Lawmaker Julio Portillo and Three Police Officers Killed in Armed Attack

Guatemalan congressman Julio César Portillo Paz was killed in an armed attack that also left three officers of the National Civil Police dead. The attack took place on Friday, November 6, in the town of Río Hondo, in the eastern department (region) of Zacapa, according to Al Jazeera and DW.

Portillo represented the Zacapa district in Congress. He was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, and his death was confirmed by the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, according to Al Jazeera. Portillo won his seat in 2023 as a member of the opposition Cabal party and later switched to the UNE.

Guatemala's Ministry of Gobernación, which oversees the interior and public security, confirmed that three agents of the National Civil Police died in the attack. The ministry said the officers repelled the assault, according to Prensa Libre. Prensa Libre reported that the attack occurred at kilometer 137 of the Ruta al Atlántico, the Atlantic Highway.

Acting President Karin Herrera identified the three officers who were killed, according to Prensa Libre. President Bernardo Arévalo said the three officers died in the line of duty and instructed security forces to cooperate with prosecutors, Al Jazeera reported.

The attack comes in a region with a long-standing drug problem. Al Jazeera reported that Zacapa is known for drug trafficking, the smuggling of illegal narcotics. The outlet said the Lorenzana family cartel, a criminal network, controls the drug trade in the department and has links to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

About three weeks before the killings, former anticorruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa was shot dead in Guatemala City, according to Al Jazeera.

As of November 7, authorities had not disclosed a motive for the attack and had not identified those responsible.