Dead Man Says Guatemalan President Killed Him

Lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg had cousins hire hitmen, panel concludes

(NEWSER) - A UN investigation has concluded that Rodrigo Rosenberg, the Guatemalan lawyer who recorded a video blaming president Alvaro Colom for his death days before he was gunned down in the street, actually planned his own death. The report says it used phone records to verify that Rosenberg had asked two of his cousins to hire hitmen to take him out. More»

...so wife can dodge constitution and run for Alvaro Colom's seat

(NEWSER) - Guatemala's first couple appear to be trying to keep power in the family—by splitting up the family. President Alvaro Colom and wife Sandra Torres de Colom have filed for divorce "by mutual consent" to allow her to stand for election this fall to replace him, the Telegraph reports. Guatemala's constitution bans presidents from serving consecutive terms, and prohibits close relatives from vying for the presidency. More»

President declares national emergency, shutters highway

(USER SUBMITTED) - Mudslides buried at least two buses on a Guatemalan highway that leads toward Mexico yesterday, reports the AP, leaving 28 dead and at least 60 more missing. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom closed the highway and declared a national emergency, saying, "There are several hillsides that are loose and could fall. So we ask the population to not go out, to avoid moving along the highways." Read the full article . More»

(NEWSER) - Guatemalan authorities have arrested an IT worker who urged others on Twitter to withdraw their money from a state-run bank at the center of a murder controversy, the Guardian reports. “First concrete action should be (to) remove cash from Banrural and bankrupt the bank of the corrupt,” read the offending Tweet. The man is being held on $6,500 bail on charges of "inciting financial panic." More»

Murders mar run-up to Sunday's election

(NEWSER) - Der Spiegel travels to Guatemala, where this Sunday's elections present an eye-opening array of candidates, from Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú to a less savory slate of cartel leaders, convicted murders, weapons smugglers, and at least one man accused of genocide. Guatemala's crime rate is sky-high, and now the candidates are criminals themselves. More»