Lawyer: 'If you see this video, I will have been murdered by President of Guatemala'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala is asking the FBI and an agency of the United Nations to investigate claims he was behind the gunning down of a prominent lawyer last weekend which were made by the victim himself in a video tape.
"Unfortunately if you are watching this message it means that I, Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, have been assassinated by President Alvaro Colom," the lawyer says in the stunning 18-minute film, which was recorded in the week before his death and distributed to the media at his funeral on Monday. He goes on to accuse the President, first lady and other officials of being accomplices in a corruption scam involving front companies and drug laundering.
Insisting on his innocence, Mr Colom faces a political emergency of a kind hardly seen in any democracy. He is hoping to dampen down the scandal by making the request for outside help to investigate it.
"Never before has an elected president been accused of murder," the newspaper Prensa Libra noted. The macabre fact that the person making the allegations and the victim are one and the same has only added to the drama. The video has already attracted thousands of views on YouTube.
In the tape, Mr Marzano asserts that a former client, a businessman named Khalil Musa, was killed in March along with his daughter after he refused to go along with a scam involving a development bank and a "non-existent" social programme headed by the first lady. He predicts his death as a result of publicising his belief that Mr Colom and his associates were behind those deaths.
After a long civil war that ended 13 years ago and left 200,000 dead, Guatemala has been trying to shed its violent and unstable past. President Colom, a former engineer with a mild television manner, was elected in late 2007 and was seen as a sharp break from a string of pro-military leaders.
"First of all, I am not a murderer. Second, I am not a drug trafficker, and everything he says there is totally senseless," he said at a press conference, suggesting that the scandal was an attempt by his enemies to bring him down.
"The death of attorney Rosenberg has been used by political opportunists and traditional conspirators linked to organised crime to confuse public opinion and attack the top authorities."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments