In video, a dead man talking
Accusations imperil leader of Guatemala
WASHINGTON - The explosive videotape that has thrown Guatemala into crisis features a lawyer, very much alive, wearing a coat and tie, sitting at a desk.
In a voice calm and clear, he announces, "Good afternoon, my name is Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano, and sadly if you are watching this message, it is because I have been murdered."
He continues, "If you are hearing or seeing this message, it is because I was assassinated by President Alvaro Colom."
Rosenberg, a respected lawyer with a roster of prominent clients, was killed Sunday morning in Guatemala City as he rode a bicycle around his neighborhood. Unknown assailants fired three bullets, and he died on the street.
The video was released at Rosenberg's funeral on Monday. In the tape, he also blames his death on Guatemala's first lady, Sandra de Colom. Thousands of Guatemalans have watched the video on various websites, crashing servers overwhelmed by the sudden explosions of traffic.
Protesters, brought together by Facebook, have assembled outside the presidential palace, calling for Colom to step aside while the case is investigated. Meanwhile, Colom and his supporters charge that the tape is the concoction of his enemies, including organized crime.
Dina Fernandez, a columnist for El Periodico, wrote, "The government is cornered, and the question of the hour is, what are we citizens going to do?"
The video was made with the help, and at the office, of journalist-lawyer Mario David Garcia, who told the newspaper Prensa Libre that Rosenberg had asked him to release the tape if anything happened to him.
Rosenberg says on the tape that he feared for his life because of his work for two clients, Guatemalan businessman Khalil Musa and his daughter Marjorie Musa. Khalil Musa, a wealthy and well-known exporter of coffee and textiles, was named by Colom to the board of directors for the state-owned Rural Development Bank, known as Banrural.
Rosenberg states that Musa was upset when he discovered that Banrural was involved in illicit transactions "ranging from money laundering to the embezzlement of public funds and nonexistent programs operated by Sandra de Colom, as well as the financing of front companies used by drug traffickers."
Khalil Musa, 74 and Marjorie Musa, 49, were shot to death in their car in March by assailants on motorcycles, a crime that Rosenberg also lays at the president's feet. 