A Guatemalan lawmaker and three police officers have been killed in an armed attack in the eastern department of Zacapa, President Bernardo Arévalo has said. Lawmaker Julio César Portillo Paz was attacked on Friday in Río Hondo, in Zacapa, and was taken to hospital with serious injuries before his death was confirmed by the National Unity of Hope party, or UNE, to which he belonged. The three officers killed were members of the National Civil Police. Mr Arévalo condemned the violence and ordered security forces to cooperate with prosecutors investigating the killings. "We will not allow criminal violence to prevail over the lives and safety of Guatemalans," he said in a post on X. Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attack or identified who was responsible.

Attack in Río Hondo

Guatemala's Congress confirmed the death late on Friday, saying its president, Luis Contreras, and fellow lawmakers mourned "the tragic passing of Congressman Julio Cesar Portillo Paz, representative of the Zacapa district". Portillo won his seat in 2023 for the opposition party Cabal but later switched to the UNE, led by former first lady Sandra Torres. Mr Arévalo said the three officers killed in the attack had died in the line of duty. The attack took place near a police station on the Atlantic Highway, in an area known for drug trafficking.

A region shaped by organised crime

The Lorenzana family cartel, which has links to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, controls the drug trade in Zacapa, according to reporting on the attack. The killing comes about three weeks after former anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa was shot dead in Guatemala City, a case that heightened concerns over organised crime and the possible return of politically motivated assassinations.

[Source: Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/guatemalan-lawmaker-three-police-officers-killed-armed-attack-2026-11-07/) | [Source: Barbados Gazette](https://barbadosgazette.com/guatemalan-lawmaker-and-three-police-officers-killed-in-armed-attack/)