Journalist slain in Guatemala, one suspect held

Guatemala City, Aug 21: Broadcast journalist Carlos Alberto Orellana Chavez was shot dead on Monday in the southern province of Suchitepequez, the Guatemala police said.

The body was discovered in the municipality of San Bernardino a few hours after the journalist was reported missing, police spokesman Pablo Castillo told. The victim's car was stolen, he added.

Orellana, 62, spent 25 years with La Venadita radio and also hosted a television program in Mazatenango, the provincial capital. He had denounced local corruption.

He is the fourth journalist slain in Guatemala so far this year.

Fredy Rodas, regional correspondent for Sonora es la Noticia radio and capital daily Al Dia, was seriously wounded last Monday in a shooting in Mazatenango.

A suspect is in the police custody regarding the case.

Authorities are investigating all of those killings, Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez said, while rejecting the notion that journalists as a group are under attack.

Support poured in from other journalists who praised Orellana's work.

IANS