By Sofia Menchu and Diego Oré
GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa was one of the country's most high profile voices denouncing alleged links between politicians and business leaders and the country's increasingly powerful organized crime groups.
Over the weekend, he was shot dead on a soccer field, a killing that former officials and diplomats consulted by Reuters said has heightened concerns over organized crime's influence
in the Central American nation.
The killing of an outspoken former prosecutor who had publicly challenged powerful interests shocked the country and revived debate over criminal networks’ penetration of state institutions.
"This is a threat against human rights defenders. This is a threat against activists for democracy," said Frank La Rue, a human rights advocate, who attended the wake for Solorzano Foppa on Monday, which featured portraits of the slain lawyer with his family.
For many Guatemalans, it recalled the 1998 assassination of Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, beaten to death two days after presenting a report documenting atrocities from the country’s civil war, and stirred fears that violence could again be used against prominent critics of powerful interests.
Experts said criminal networks have strengthened their influence in recent years as anti-corruption efforts and institutions tasked with combating impunity have weakened, issues likely to loom over the June 2027 election as Guatemala chooses President Bernardo Arevalo’s successor.
Authorities have not established a motive for Solorzano Foppa's killing. But officials and diplomats said the case has fueled concerns about criminal groups’ ability to intimidate or silence critical voices.
More than 100 former prosecutors, judges, journalists and human rights defenders have left Guatemala in recent years, according to some international human rights organizations, after denouncing corruption or alleged links between state structures and criminal networks.
This week, following Solorzano Foppa's killing, a high-profile lawyer who also railed against political corruption said he has received death threats. On Wednesday, Arevalo denounced the threats against the lawyer, Edgar Ortiz.
"Guatemala cannot return to being a country where defending democracy can cost one peace, freedom, or their life," Arevalo wrote on social media.
'RED LINE CROSSED'
Corruption has been a major institutional challenge in Guatemala for decades. From 2007 to 2019, the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) helped investigate corruption and organized crime networks within the state, including cases that led to the resignation and subsequent prosecution of then-President Otto Perez Molina and his former vice president, Roxana Baldetti.
Since CICIG's departure in 2019, human rights groups, prosecutors and international observers have denounced setbacks in the fight against corruption. President Arevalo, who took office in 2024 promising to tackle the problem, has acknowledged difficulties advancing reforms and dismantling structures accused of corruption.
In videos posted on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, and seen by Reuters, Solorzano Foppa alleged links between Barrio 18 leader Aldo "El Lobo" Ochoa, who is serving combined prison sentences of more than 1,600 years, and people close to the leadership of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, headed by former first lady Sandra Torres. Reuters could not independently verify the allegations.
UNE told Reuters in a statement that "those allegations were never proven and should not be presented as established facts."
Solorzano Foppa, a former head of Guatemala's SAT tax administration agency, also alleged ties between criminal networks, political figures and sectors of the judicial system, though the accusations did not result in judicial proceedings.
Officials have not identified who ordered the killing. The Organization of American States and the United Nations have called for a thorough investigation.
The Public Prosecutor's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Sunday, following the murder, it said in a statement that "in order to guarantee due process, it will not disclose additional details about the evidence gathered or the specific lines of investigation."
A former government official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said insiders had turned to Solorzano Foppa with information they felt unable to expose themselves, making him an outlet for allegations from within the state. His killers "left no trace," the former official said, complicating the investigation.
Guatemala's criminal networks range from gangs and drug traffickers to structures involving former officials and members of the security forces. Analysts say some have retained influence over state institutions, while armed groups like Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) remain involved in extortion and territorial control.
They include the so-called CIACS, or Illegal Clandestine Security Apparatuses, networks linked to former security structures that experts say retain political and economic influence. Guatemala is also a major drug-trafficking corridor to the United States, with groups associated with Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel operating through local criminal networks.
"Many of us fear that a red line has been crossed," said Stephen McFarland, former US ambassador to Guatemala from 2008 to 2011. "A return to political assassination as a way of settling scores and protecting the ambitions and money of certain people."
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City and Diego Oré in Mexico City; Editing by Cassandra Garrison and Aurora Ellis)
