MEXICO: Kidnapped Mexican politican freed after seven months

Record ID: 303990

  • Title: MEXICO: Kidnapped Mexican politican freed after seven months
  • Date: 21st December 2010
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (DECEMBER 20, 2010) (REUTERS) DIEGO FERNANDEZ DE CEVALLOS OUTSIDE FRONT DOOR FERNANDEZ WITH REPORTERS FERNANDEZ THANKING MEDIA FERNANDEZ GOING BACK INTO HOUSE REPORTERS CAR WITH CEVALLOS DRIVING OUT, HOLDING FLOWERS SOUNDBITE (Spanish) FERNANDEZ SAYING "These are for my wife, not for you. Thank you. I thank you very much. Goodbye." CAR DRIVING OUT
  • Embargoed: 5th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico, Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABRC91NPA1COYL6F6EKMUON89N
  • Story Text: Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, a prominent former Mexican presidential candidate, has been released seven months after being kidnapped.
    Fernandez, a member of President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, spoke to waiting media in front of his house in Mexico City on Monday, telling them he was fine and his life would continue.
    Sporting a long white beard, Fernandez thanked the media.
    Cigar-chomping Fernandez was abducted in central Mexico in May as he arrived at his ranch late at night. His car was found with some of his belongings inside and blood on a pair of scissors thrown on the ground nearby.
    In the following months, his captors released photos of a blindfolded, bearded man who greatly resembled Fernandez in an apparent move to put pressure the politician's family to pay for his release.
    Fernandez, known for his outspoken personality, is often called "Jefe Diego" (Boss Diego). He was a key figure in strengthening the PAN in the run-up to it winning the presidency in 2000 and ending seven decades of one-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
    Kidnapping of executives, public officials and ordinary citizens for ransom is rife in Mexico, often ending in the deaths of victims.
    Fernandez has close ties to key government figures such as Attorney General Arturo Chavez but does not currently hold any public office.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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