Orellana’s
body was found in the southwestern department of Suchitepéquez with a bullet
wound in his head, according to news reports. Unidentified
assailants had abducted him from his car hours earlier after he had left his
home. Authorities said they found Orellana’s vehicle with all of his belongings
and that the attack did not appear to be a robbery.
Orellana
hosted two news programs on the local cable station Canal Óptimo 23, where he
had denounced local corruption, and had previously worked for more than two
decades at Radio Indiana de Mazatenango and at Radio La Venadita del Cuadrante,
according to news reports.
Orellana
had also served as mayor of the municipality of Mazatenango from 2000 to 2004.
Elmer
Yat, chief prosecutor for crimes against journalists, told reporters that he
would be investigating Orellana’s journalism as a possible motive. Interior
Minister Mauricio López Bonilla said the crime did not appear to be related to
Orellana’s journalistic work, but offered no further details, according
to news reports.
Friends
of the journalist told local reporters that in the days before his murder,
Orellana had broadcast critical reports about human trafficking, water
contamination, local government corruption, and death threats that his
granddaughter had received, according to news reports.