liberal | A post-mortem accusation of corruption in Guatemala

On May 10, a Guatemalan lawyer named Rodrigo Rosenberg was shot dead while bicycling in Guatemala City. Most of us would probably never have heard of this except for one thing: Rosenberg had left behind a video accusing President Alvaro Colom of assassinating him to hide corruption in Guatemala's Banrural bank. This has led to protests demanding Colom's resignation and the arrest of a Twitter user who had called for a run on Banrural.

In the video, Rosenberg accuses President Colom along with business associates Gustavo Alejos and Gregorio Valdez of having already assassinated Rosenberg's client Khalil Musa, a recently appointed Banrural board member at the time of his death on April 14, to cover up embezzlement from the bank by Colom's wife Sandra. Rosenberg also accuses Banrural president José Angel López, Banrural general manager Fernando Peña, and National Coffee Association director Gerardo de León of threatening Musa to coerce him to resign, and he calls upon Vice President Rafael Espada to lead a revolution against Colom.

There is more information at the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. Also, this Spanish-language source gives details on the Musa assassination. Use BabelFish if you need it translated.

President Colom denies everything. Of course, he would do that whether he was guilty or innocent, and there is the possibility that he might be innocent. The video does not constitute evidence for a court of law, Rosenberg obviously cannot be cross-examined, and documents to support Rosenberg's claims have yet to appear. If, somehow, Rosenberg's allegations are false, then who killed him and what could have led him to believe it would have been Colom's men? If they are true, what can be done about it? Needless to say, there should be a full investigation of Banrural's finances and all of Rosenberg's claims. Let us hope that Guatemala has the civil strength to support it