Guatemalan congressman slain outside party Headquarters

Guatemalan: A congressman who was reportedly negotiating a switch to the law-and-order party of Guatemalan's conservative president-elect was shot to death, a day before the presidential inauguration ceremony.

Investigators said two attackers killed Oscar Valentin Leal Caal and his brother outside the headquarters of the legislator's current party, the populist Democratic Freedom Revival.

Leal Caal's bodyguard was wounded by the gunmen, who abandoned their motorcycle nearby, chief investigator Fernando Gomez said.

Retired general Otto Perez Molina is being sworn in as president Saturday and he told the newspaper Prensa Libre that Leal had been receiving death threats since beginning discussions about joining Perez's conservative Patriotic Party.

Perez has pledged to crack down on organized crime and Mexican drug cartels. Outgoing President Alvaro Colom said there was no immediate evidence the crime was linked to congressional affairs or Perez's inauguration.

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