UPDATE, April 2011:
Almost two years after Rodrigo Rosenberg died, the real, bizarre, and chilling truth about his death has come to light and been beautifully explained by David Grann in The New Yorker. You can read the article here.
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Rodrigo Rosenberg was born in Guatemala in 1962. After completing an undergraduate degree at Rafael Landivar University, he studied international law at the University of Cambridge, and later took a masters in commercial law at Harvard.
In 1987, Rodrigo Rosenberg co-founded his own law firm, Rosenberg Marzano Marroquin-Pemueller & Asociados. He had four children. He was appointed Vice Dean of his old alma-mater, the Law School at Rafael Landivar.
Last Sunday, while Mr Rosenberg was cycling through Guatemala City, he was shot dead.
In the video Mr Rosenberg made predicting his own murder, he does not come across as a deluded conspiracy theorist. Dressed smartly, he enunciates clearly, explaining why he believes his impending death would be the work of the Guatemalan president, Alvaro Colom. The urgency of what he is saying is clear only in the way his lips purse when he finishes a sentence, in the careful calmness he keeps, as if understanding that anything too agitated would undermine his case.
According to the Wall St Journal, the video was made last Wednesday. You can watch it here:
While hundreds of Guatemalans took to the streets to call for Colom’s resignation after the video was shown on local television, the President held a press conference to vehemently deny the claims, saying:
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.”
President Colom has requested that the FBI and the UN help investigate. Yesterday, the FBI arrived in Guatemala. A full English translation of Mr Rosenberg’s written message is available here.
The day of publication of the video news television channels 3, 7 and 13 gave a poor coverage to the news. The only news that gave a total coverage of this story were Guatevision and TVAzteca Guatemala, also on CNN news in Spanish passed. On Tuesday, Patricia Janiot of World Panorama interviewed Mario David Garcia who was the one who helped save the video to counsel Rosenberg. Then interviews the new President of the Republic Mr. Alvaro Colom.
In this interview is that Colom was not prepared for what would be the interview with a reporter of truth as is Patricia Janiot, who when asked if he believed the post temporarily waive Colom said no because “the video is fake.” Besides a silly response, lack of coherence and argument of the ruling party.
That’s good that there are those news media such as CNN in Spanish, Guatevision, TVAzteca Guatemala, Prensa Libre, United Stations, El Periodico, among some others, who tell us the truth as they are, not as the local television channels open only make up the news for the benefit of government, as they are by the government and the government is for them.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we were bombarded with advertisements of government where they want to be as innocent. Colom has said that the clean conscience and that he will not resign “just killed the benefit of the palace.” (should not take it literally?) … ..
The lawyer did something heroic Rosenberg, the easy way out would have been leaving the country as surely had the means to do so, but took it out hard, stayed in the country, knowing that his life was endangered, and to stop the achievement video do something momentous, something in his life that he had not succeeded in doing what it could do with his death. With what he did showed that he was a man right, because many of us stay silent, knowing the improper actions of our leaders, “the silence” says one such, and we are guilty of remaining silent, knowing the actions of our leaders . We hope that his death will not be forgotten as were many more deaths. The most correct thing you should do is resign temporarily Alvaro Colom said that since having clean conscience should not be afraid to resign. Only in his words is not telling the truth … ..
(translation by google tools)
CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD
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……Gabriel García Márquez wrote ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ which is an analysis of passion within the Latin American culture. With fantasy, the novel portrays our intimate reality, and one is reminded that, “If the past is forgotten, the future will not be remembered.”
……When a Latin Americans assumes a presidency of a country, he seems to feel the greased finger of god, and he, also, begins to feel as a loved personal friend with divine rights. Watching Mr. Colom before the cameras, gesturing nervously and backed by his phalange of sweaty rumpled henchmen, the only thing missing were the tattoos and the hand signs; but it’s all the same thing, these folks are simple cholos in neck ties. With the voice cracking under his peculiar speech impediment, he portrayed a frighten mechanical Pinocchio. One can only wonder about his estate of mind, does he think he can make up the truth as he goes along by divine presidential right, or is he truly confused in the belief that at least the very ignorant and the stupid should believe in him?
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……The reality is that violence and political assassinations are natural death causes, however, for religious and philosophical conditions the public does not wish to accept it. That is not to say that it should not be avoided. But generally the weaker the government the more they make use of the technique; but, for Latin America, historically the practice became the norm with the Holly Inquisition and it stands, still without qualms. In this remarkable case, Mr. Rosenberg has played a masterful move check mating President Pinocchio and his government by anticipating the eminent end accurately, and by planting the unprecedented political time bomb of all time.
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……Mr. Rosenberg has left the world the ‘Rosenberg Maneuver’ that will be seen employed for evermore. – Corona Ágreda