3 suspects emerge in Guatemalan lawyer's killing

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thursday, 05.21.09
3 suspects emerge in Guatemalan lawyer's killing
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA
Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY -- A top prosecutor says he has received a document naming three suspects in the killing of a lawyer who recorded a video before his death accusing Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom of ordering his slaying.

Human Rights Prosecutor Sergio Morales said the information appeared to be credible, but declined to give any details about the suspects, or the informant who sent him the document, to avoid compromising the investigation.

Colom, Guatemala's first leftist president in more than 50 years, has faced mounting calls for his resignation since a recording distributed at Rodrigo Rosenberg's funeral last week showed the attorney blaming his killing on the president.

Colom denies the accusations and has asked the FBI and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala to investigate. The commission is a U.N. panel set up in 2007 to clean up corruption here.

Morales said he has sent the document to the U.N. commission and an FBI agent who arrived last week in response to Colom's request to help with the investigation.

~snip~
Colom's 2007 election victory gave Guatemala its first leftist leader since Jacobo Arbenz was thrown out of office in 1954 by a CIA-orchestrated coup.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1059781.html

[rabs]

1. Wonder why the AP did not name the suspects

1. Carlos Nimatus
2. Gerson Nimatus
3. Julio Galicia
4. Three others unidentified

The strange aspect is that if the first three exist, they are probably already out of the country, if not dead, because naming them is practically a death sentence so they cannot tell who hired them to kill Rosenberg.


Mario David Garcia

I would think the investigation also is looking at Mario David García, the "journalist" who made the video.

He is well-known in Guatemala of consorting with right-wing opposition sectors.

Garcia in 1985 ran for the presidency for the ultra-rightwing party Central Autentico Nacionalista. He did not come even close to winning.

Rosenberg murder scene on May 10

[Judi Lynn]

2. So glad You've added so much depth to this. We could never have known this much

through the corporate media channels available to us. NEVER.

It's wonderful to hear they are getting right in there and finding out about the circumstances surrounding how the video was made. That's going to be a very interesting story, if it ever comes out, beyond a doubt.

There's so much to find out about this. Thanks to you we know far, far more than we did yesterday!

[Judi Lynn]

5. Witness identifies suspects related to lawyer's murder in Guatemala

Witness identifies suspects related to lawyer's murder in Guatemala
Posted 05/21/2009 10:41 PM ET


MEXICO CITY, May 21, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A former judge has identified three suspects related to a lawyer's murder that triggered a political scandal in Guatemala, according to news reaching here on Thursday from Guatemala City.

The witness told authorities in a letter that killers-for-hire Carlos Nimatus, Gerson Nimatus and Julio Galicia gunned down lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg on May 10, three days after he had recorded a video, now widely published, alleging the nation's President Alvaro Colom would soon kill him. Colom has denied all charges and has received public backing from the Organization of American States and from the United States.

Local newspaper did not mention the judge's name, citing fears for his personal safety. It is reported that the three gunmen had escaped in one of two black-and-white cars from the crime scene and the judge had identified another three suspects.

Sergio Morales, national attorney general for human rights and one receiver of the letter, told media on Thursday that he had asked for protection for four people linked to the case, which is now being investigated by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, a U.N. panel set up in 2007 to clean up corruption.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=94618738&source=Newsfeed
~~~~~~~~~~~~
You know, once ANYONE knew about that video's existance he could relay it to any number of Rosenberg's enemies, f'r instance the husband of the woman with whom he was having an affair, his own client, they could kill him and have his very own words nailing the President for the murder! If someone talked him into doing that video, and he just went along with it, it would have been the dumbest thing he ever did!

[struggle4progress]

3. Slain Guatemalan lawyer leaves video blaming president (Tampa Bay Times)

By David Adams, Times Latin America Correspondent
In Print: Sunday, May 31, 2009

... in April, Musa and his daughter, Marjorie, were gunned down in their car on their way to lunch ... After journalist Hugo Arce was murdered in January last year, an essay titled "I Accuse" began to circulate on blogs, supposedly written by Arce before his death. In it he accused Colom and his wife of being "directly responsible" for his murder ... Mendizabal, the distributor of Rosenberg's CD at the funeral, .. has a long history of right-wing militancy ... Mendizabal helped found El Salvador's right-wing ARENA party ... Government officials also point to the fact that Rosenberg, a divorced father of four, was having a secret affair with Marjorie Musa, who was married ... http://www.tampabay.com/news/world/article1005875.ece

[Judi Lynn]

4. It's hard to overlook the info. on the guy who distributed this video at the funeral,

according to the article you posted:

Officials highlight the role of Mendizabal, the distributor of Rosenberg's CD at the funeral, pointing out that he has a long history of right-wing militancy. A security expert, specializing in negotiating kidnappings, Mendizabal helped found El Salvador's right-wing ARENA party, linked to death squads during the 1980s.

Mendizabal makes no apologies for his right-wing sympathies, and is proud of a U.S. Department of Justice plaque given to him in 2000 "in recognition of meritorious service and acts under most difficult conditions" while serving briefly as head of Guatemala's immigration service.

Why would anyone not suspect everything connected with this guy?

What his death squad allies did could only have been conceived in the deepest pit in hell.