Crime and politics in Guatemala
74. An indictment from the grave
May 21st 2009 | GUATEMALA CITY From The Economist print edition

A murder foretold has convulsed Guatemala's government. Its investigation will provide a test of whether or not Central America includes a failed state

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RODRIGO ROSENBERG was not the best-known, richest, or most powerful victim of the endemic violence that dogs Guatemala. His murder on May 10thhe was shot by an unknown gunman while bicycling on a busy avenuewas not even unusually brazen by the country's grim standards. But Mr Rosenberg, a Harvard-educated lawyer, did something to distinguish himself from the other 6,000 people killed in Guatemala in the past 12 months. Four days before his death, he recorded an 18-minute video in which he began by saying: 'If you are watching this message it is because I have been murdered by President Alvaro Colom' with the help of Gustavo Alejos, his chief of staff, and Gregorio Valdez, a businessman, and the approval of Mr Colom's wife, Sandra Torres. With that he plunged Guatemala into its most serious political convulsion since the end of a 36-year civil war in 1996. He also highlighted the continuing lawlessness of a country that comes as close as any in the Americas (Haiti apart) to a failed state.
According to Mr Rosenberg's posthumously publicised testimony, Mr Colom's government offered a seat on the board of Banrural, a partly state-owned development bank, to one of the dead lawyer's clients, Khalil Musa, a farmer and textile manufacturer. The proposal was then withdrawn, Mr Rosenberg claimed, out of fear that Mr Musa would reveal rampant corruption at the bank. It was to keep this episode quiet that Mr Musa and his daughter were murdered last month, according to Mr Rosenberg, who feared that for the same reason he would be next.

A. 어휘
indictment 고발, 起訴(기소). foretell-foretold-foretold 예고하다, 예언하다.
a murder foretold =a murder which was foretold 예고된 살인.
convulse 뒤흔들다, 대소동을 일으키다, 대진동을 일으키다. investigation 조사, 수사.
failed state 실패한 나라(국가기능이 마비된 나라). victim 희생자.
endemic 특유의, 풍토병. avenue 大路(대로). unusually 특별히. brazen 뻔뻔스러운.
grim 엄한, 잔인한. distinguish 구별하다. chief of staff 참모장.
approval 승인. plunge 던지다, 빠뜨리다. convulsion 동란, 경련, 소동.
apart 별도로 하고, 제쳐놓고. the Americas 남북 아메리카 州(주).
posthumously 死後(사후)에. publicised 공개된. testimony 證言(증언).
board 이사회. client 고객. textile 織物(직물).
manufacturer 제조업자. proposal 제안. withdraw 취소하다, 철수하다.
reveal 폭로하다. rampant 맹렬한, 광란하는. corruption 부패.

B. 구문
- the continuing lawlessness of. . . to a failed state.
cf. as close as any= the closest (최상급).
[남북 아메리카 州에서 실패국가에 가장 근접하는 나라의 계속되는 無法天地(무법천지)]

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No independent evidence has emerged to corroborate these accusations. But for many, mainly middle-class Guatemalans, the case casts doubt on the credentials of Mr Colom, a businessman of the centre-left elected as president in 2007, as a crusader for good government and justice.
Guatemala desperately needs both those things. The state is weak, even by Latin American standards. Tax revenues total just 11% of GDP, depriving governments of the wherewithal to provide such basic public services as security, health care and schooling. The war between left-wing guerrillas and (until 1986) a string of military dictators claimed some 200,000 lives and flooded the country with guns. When peace came, drug-trafficking syndicates were springing up across Central America to transport Colombian cocaine to the United States. Many former combatants drifted into crime. The murder rate (of nearly 50 per 100,000 people) is higher than its average during the war. Police and courts are understaffed, underpaid and susceptible to bribes and threats. According to the United Nations, just 2% of crimes in the country are solved.
Crime and corruption have contaminated politics. Political office confers immunity from prosecution. Drug money helps to finance campaigns. 'You have to join up with the mafias to be a successful politician in Guatemala,' says Nineth Montenegro, a human-rights campaigner and congresswoman. Those who resist often pay with their lives: 56 politicians or party activists were killed during the 2007 presidential campaign.

A. 어휘
independent evidence 독립적인(객관적인) 증거. emerge 출현하다.
corroborate 立證(입증)하다. accusation 고발, 糾彈(규탄), 비난.
cast-cast-cast 던지다. credentials 信任(신임), 신용. centre-left 中道左派(중도좌파).
crusader 십자군용사, 개혁운동가. good government 훌륭한 통치. justice 正義(정의).
desperately 심하게, 필사적으로. revenue 稅入(세입). tax revenue 稅收(세수).
total 총계...이 되다. deprive A of B. A에게서 B를 빼앗다.
wherewithal 자금, 수단. security 保安(보안). schooling 학교교육.
a string of 한 무리의, 연속적인. dictator 독재자. claim 초래하다, 주장하다.
drug-trafficking 마약거래. syndicate (신디케이트형의)범죄조직, 기업조합.
former combatants 前 전투원. drift into 휘말려 들다. cf. drift 표류하다.
understaffed 인원이 부족한. underpaid 薄俸(박봉)의.
susceptible 영향 받기 쉬운, 민감한, 빠지기 쉬운. bribe 뇌물. threat 협박.
contaminate 오염시키다. office 관직, 公職(공직). political office 政務職(정무직).
confer 주다, 수여하다. immunity 免除(면제), 면역.
prosecution 起訴(기소). finance 돈을 대주다, 자금을 제공하다.
campaign 선거운동. congresswoman 여자 국회의원.
presidential campaign 대통령선거운동.

B. 구문
- Political office confers immunity from prosecution.
[정치인은 기소면제를 받는다]