Chilling

I read on a blog I follow today the following:

Guatemala is going through a VERY tense time today. Yesterday, a very prominent lawyer was murdered in broad daylight in one of the best areas in the city. His crime...having for a client a very prominent and good business man who was also murdered a while back along with his daughter.

Knowing he was going to be murdered because of his investigation into his client's murder, he left written and video testimony in which he makes very strong accusations against the highest levels of our government.

When he says "the highest levels of our government," he's talking about the president and the first lady. This link will take you to a written transcript of this lawyer's video; if you speak even the slightest bit of Spanish, though, do watch the opening of this video. I found it positively chilling to actually watch him say, "Good afternoon. My name is ... If you are watching this message, it is because I was assassinated by [the president, with the help of others, whom he names]..."

Wow.

I also found it chilling because I have a number of connections to Guatemala, having spent significant portions of my life in high school and college there. My family has supported children and others there for over 15 years. I also have a number of work colleagues -- pastors, seminary leaders, lawyers -- who are in Guate. It feels remarkably close to home. Oh, and it makes me feel pretty durn blessed to live in a country where (even if I feel like our government is too big and grabbing for even more ridiculous "bigness"), political murder in broad daylight is still unthinkable.

Watch the first 20 seconds of this vid.

Declaraciones de Rodrigo Rosenberg (Completo) from Prensa Libre on Vimeo.