Asia-Pacific
UN: Guatemala lawyer orchestrated own killing
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-13 11:53
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 Carlos Castresana, head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), talks about a report on the Rosenberg Case in Guatemala City January 12, 2010. [Agencies] |
Rosenberg's posthumous accusations of corruption became a rallying cry for members of Guatemala's dominant elite, many of whom are angry over Colom's attempts to eliminate tax loopholes for corporations and criticize his inability to reduce high rates of violent crime.
Colom is overwhelmingly backed by Guatemala's mostly Mayan Indian poor for his efforts to tax the rich and build schools and clinics for disadvantaged communities.
Colom has suggested that criminal or political interests were behind the video and expressed relief on Tuesday.
The commission's investigation has led to 11 arrests with three of those people working with investigators as protected witnesses.
The commission said it was able to identify suspects in the killing using security camera footage from where Rosenberg was shot on his bicycle and by tracing cell phone calls.
The cousins implicated in the investigation, Francisco and Estuardo Valdes Paiz, are considered fugitives from justice. Investigators allege they contacted the head of security at their pharmaceutical company to help them find someone to carry out the killing for $40,000.
"The information that (witnesses) have given us coincides down to the millimeter with our investigations," he said.
