GUNMEN shot and killed two journalists and wounded a third on Tuesday as they walked in a park in Mazatenango municipality in southern Guatemala.

The deceased, Prensa Libre local correspondent Danilo Lopez and Federico Salazar, were the vice-president and secretary of the Suchitepequez Press Association according to journalists’ human rights group Centro Civitas.

Prensa Libre editor Miguel Angel Mendez Zetina said that Mr Lopez had worked at the paper for over a decade and had recently filed a complaint against San Lorenzo mayor Jose Linares Rojas for making death threats against him. 

He had written stories about the lack of transparency surrounding public funds in Mr Linares’s administration.

“Two mayors from Mazatenango municipality had threatened him because of his stories,” said Mr Mendez. 

“Danilo was a very ethical reporter, very transparent and he was very good at accounting for public funds.”