By Sofia Menchu
Oct 17 (Reuters) – Guatemalan lawyer Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa, known for his high-profile fight against corruption in the Central American country, died after being shot on Saturday by two men while visiting a sports center in Guatemala City, a crime condemned by President Bernardo Arevalo.
Solorzano Foppa was a 43-year-old former prosecutor and anti-corruption lawyer who denounced wrongdoing by some of Guatemala’s most powerful politicians, business leaders and companies, and in 2023 briefly joined the defense team of a prominent journalist.
Shortly after the attack, Guatemalan police reported that they had detained two men and seized a carbine-style firearm and a motorcycle. According to the police, the arrests and seizure of the weapon were in connection with the case.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly murder of former prosecutor Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa. Both the direct perpetrators and those who ordered the crime must face the full weight of the law,” Arevalo said on his official X account. He added that he had instructed his government to coordinate with the relevant authorities to solve the crime.
“Those who believe that terror can intimidate the people of Guatemala and the government I lead are mistaken. In honor of Foppa, in honor of our homeland, in honor of justice.”
The lawyer was known for his anti-corruption work as head of the Criminal Investigations Directorate within the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and later as head of Guatemala’s tax authority, the SAT, from 2016 to 2018, when he helped prosecute dozens of powerful Guatemalan business figures and recover unpaid taxes.
In 2025, Solorzano Foppa alleged a connection between the Barrio 18 gang and the National Unity of Hope party, as well as links between criminal gangs and the judicial system. In 2023, he briefly joined the defense team of Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora, who has become an international symbol of resistance to the criminalization of journalism and the erosion of judicial independence in Central America.
Solorzano Foppa had to leave the Zamora case after being accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of obstructing the proceedings and destroying or concealing information, a charge he denied but ultimately accepted as part of a plea agreement, saying he did not believe he would receive a fair trial.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City, writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher, Editing by Franklin Paul)
