Argentine singer shot dead in Guatemala

Facundo Cabral, a singer and songwriter prominent in the Spanish-speaking world, was shot to death Saturday while traveling in his car after two performances in Guatemala, officials said here. The Argentine-born Cabral, 74, was driving to the airport to fly to nearby Nicaragua for more performances when unidentified gunmen attacked his car. "I don't know how and why this happened, because Facundo is well known around the world and I don't see why anyone would be interested in killing him," the late singer's representative, David Llanos, told reporters. Cabral was stuck by bullets several times and died in the car, police said. Another vehicle where his bodyguard was traveling was riddled with 25 gunshots but nobody was wounded, police said. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom "is dismayed by this cowardly act," said spokesman Rolando Robles. "It is sad that a man who sung about love, peace and happiness has lost his life to some bastards in Guatemala," Robles said. Cabral's songs, which include the 1970s hit "I'm not from here, nor am I from there," are frequently performed by other well-known Spanish-language singers like Julio Iglesias, Juan Luis Guerra and Joan Manuel Serrat. Some 5,000 people heard Cabral sing on Tuesday. He had a second concert on Thursday. Guatemala has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America -- 18 per day on average in a country with a population of nearly 14 million. Street gangs and powerful Mexican drug cartels are active in the country.