Guatemala: A member of parliament and three police officers killed in an armed attack

An opposition lawmaker and three police officers were killed Friday in Guatemala during an armed attack in a region plagued by drug trafficking, authorities announced.

The assassinated elected official is the deputy from Zacapa (east), Julio Portillo, 35, of the opposition party National Union for Hope of former first lady Sandra Torres, the Guatemalan Parliament indicated on the X platform.

A local fire department official initially stated that the elected official was unharmed, but authorities later announced that he had died in hospital.

The attack occurred on a road in the village of Rio Hondo, in the province of Zacapa. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the three police officers were shot dead while responding to a "direct attack against the congressman" perpetrated by unknown assailants.

The province of Zacapa is the territory of the Lorenzana family cartel, linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel. On September 27, eight civilians were killed there during clashes between rival gangs.

At the end of October, a lavish party, with 1,000 guests and estimated to cost $2.5 million by local media, was held in the region to celebrate the 15th birthday of the daughter of the mayor of Zacapa, Xiomara Ovalle, wife of the self-proclaimed drug trafficker Sergio Cifuentes, who returned to Guatemala after serving a prison sentence in the United States.

The American embassy in Guatemala condemned the party, noting that Ms. Ovalle was also the sister-in-law of drug trafficker Haroldo Lorenzana, for whose capture Washington has put a $5 million bounty on his head.