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.