Guatemalan former prosecutor shot dead at sports centre

What the report says

Guatemalan authorities say former prosecutor and anticorruption lawyer Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa was shot dead on Saturday at the Campo Marte sports complex in Guatemala City, along with another man, Gustavo Adolfo Aguilar Gamarro. Police said they later arrested two men and seized a carbine-style firearm and a motorcycle in connection with the killings. The Public Prosecutor’s Office said the attack happened during a visit to the sports centre.

According to Al Jazeera’s report, Foppa was known in Guatemala for cases involving powerful businessmen and for publicly accusing political, business and institutional actors of wrongdoing. He previously headed the Criminal Investigations Directorate in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and later led the country’s tax authority from 2016 to 2018, where he helped pursue tax recovery efforts against major business figures. The report also notes that he briefly joined the defence team of journalist Jose Ruben Zamora in 2023.

President Bernardo Arevalo condemned the killing and urged that those responsible be brought to justice. The case comes amid broader concern in Guatemala over violence, corruption allegations and pressure on the justice system. In general, killings of legal and anti-corruption figures can deepen fears about impunity, though the report does not identify a motive for the attack.