Reporters Without Borders and the CERIGUA Journalists’ Observatory deplore radio programme host Luis de Jesús Lima’s murder yesterday in the Zacapa province. He was the third journalist to be killed in Guatemala since the start of the year.

Like the previous two victims - Luis Alberto Lemus Ruano and Jaime Napoleón Jarquín Duarte - Lima was slain in the southeast of the country, a region where criminal violence is on the rise and journalists are increasingly exposed to reprisals when covering organized crime, businessmen or local officials.

Their journalistic work cannot therefore be ruled out as the motive for these murders.

“The safety of journalists should be a priority for the authorities,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The motive for Lima’s murder is not yet known and we urge the investigators not to rule out any hypothesis, including a possible link to his work as a journalist.

The organization added: “The police and judicial authorities must do everything possible to shed light on this murder. Those responsible must be arrested and brought to justice.”

Lima died on the spot when shot by two men on a motorcycle as he got out of his car outside Radio La Sultana. Aged 68 and a journalist for 40 years, he hosted a music programme on Radio La Sultana in which he interviewed local personalities and allowed listeners to phone in and speak on the air.