The leader of a tribe in Venezuela was murdered and his wife was injured in an incident that's drawing attention to a violence-prone region of the country.

Sabino Romero, a leader of the Yukpa Tribe, was killed by gunmen on Sunday. His wife was also shot.

“The investigation is under way,” Venezuela's Information Minister Ernesto Villegas told the Associated Press. “We cannot put forth any type of hypothesis regarding this reprehensible act.”

Romero had asked for government protection in a region known for violence. According to the group Sociedad Homo et Natura, at least eight members of the Yukpa tribe have been murdered in recent years amid clashes over land rights

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Chief of Venezuelan indigenous tribe killed, prosecutors investigate fatal shooting (AP 3/4)