Update: Guatemalan Congressman Julio Portillo Died of Gunshot Wounds Hours After Zacapa Ambush
Early reports said the deputy was stable. The director of the Zacapa hospital now says he died Friday night, and he was buried Sunday in Río Hondo after a wake at a church where one outlet says he preached.
See where this is ›RÍO HONDO, Guatemala —
Guatemalan congressman Julio César Portillo Paz died the night of Friday, Nov. 6, hours after gunmen ambushed his convoy at kilometer 137 of the Atlantic highway in Río Hondo, Zacapa, Guatemalan outlets reported. The first reports that night, which Watchman News carried, said he was in stable condition.
See where this is ›Dr. Luis Alberto Nájera García, director of the Hospital Regional de Zacapa, said Portillo arrived with gunshot wounds at 5:45 p.m. and died at 9:58 p.m. the same day, La Hora reported. Emisoras Unidas said the 36-year-old lawmaker died from the severity of shots to the face and skull.
The early word that he was stable, with only cuts from the shattered windshield, came from a member of the municipal fire brigades. On Sunday morning the fire brigades' national association, Asonbomd, acknowledged that the information had not been confirmed when it was released, La Hora said.
Three National Civil Police agents assigned to protect him were killed in the attack: Fernando Antonio Reyes Aldana, Erick Armides Ramos Osorio and Jorge Paau Xicol. La Hora said they were buried in their home communities. The Public Ministry said it collected more than 50 bullet casings at the scene.
Portillo's body lay in state Saturday at the Casa del Cielo church in the village of Pata Galana, Río Hondo. La Hora said he used to attend the church, and Emisoras Unidas said he had served there as a preacher. He was buried Sunday afternoon in the Pata Galana cemetery in a private service, both outlets reported.
President Bernardo Arévalo condemned the attack, offered condolences to the families and ordered security forces to cooperate fully with prosecutors. “We will not allow criminal violence to prevail over the life and safety of Guatemalans,” he wrote, according to La Hora.
Prensa Libre reported that the Interior Ministry assigned Portillo protection in 2024 after he reported death threats. He was elected with the Cabal party, which Emisoras Unidas said expelled him in April 2025 over alleged illegal commissions, and he joined the UNE bloc on Oct. 31. Citing the Diálogos violence observatory, Prensa Libre said Zacapa has the fourth-highest homicide rate of Guatemala's departments.
Highest homicide rates in Guatemala, per 100,000 people (year to September 2026)
Source: Diálogos Observatorio de la Violencia, as reported by Prensa Libre, Nov. 7, 2026
What we don't know yet: who carried out the attack and why. No arrests had been reported as of Monday. La Hora said videos showed a large crowd at a cemetery in the village of Espinilla, Río Hondo, while both outlets named Pata Galana as the burial site. A Prensa Libre editorial, citing a different research group, Cien, ranked Zacapa eighth for violence through September.
