Marco Antonio Estrada

Marco Antonio Estrada Orla was a Guatemalan journalist who was killed on June 6, 2009, in Chiquimula, Guatemala. He was 39 years old at the time of his death.

Career Estrada worked in journalism for over 20 years. Early in his career, Estrada worked in the sports department of Radio Sultana de Oriente. He later worked at Radio Perla de Oriente. He also worked at Radio Estéreo Amistad and Radio Sonora. At the time of his death he had been working for ten years as a news correspondent for the national broadcaster Telediario, on Channel 3. He was a general-assignment reporter who often covered organized crime and drug trafficking stories.

Murder An unidentified assailant fired four shots at Estrada at 8 pm on June 6, 2009, as he was getting off his motorcycle on a street in Chiquimula, 140 miles east of Guatemala City. Witnesses said the gunman, who was described as short in stature, fled in a car that was parked at the scene of the crime. Estrada’s cell phone was taken in the attack.

Estrada was the second journalist to have been killed in Guatemala in 2009. The first was Rolando Santiz of Telecentro.