Latin America: Week in Review, Mexico

Mexican Politician Diego Fernández de Cevallos Freed After Seven Months

December 21, 2010 By Staff

Mexican politician Diego Fernández de Cevallos.

Today in Latin America

Top Story — After seven months in captivity, a Mexican politician and former presidential candidate was was released Monday.

Diego Fernández de Cevallos, who was kidnapped back in May, said he was well but gave no indication of who his captors were.

“I’m fine, thank God. I am strong,” he said outside his home in Mexico City, according to The Miami Herald. “I will not respond to any questions.”

Fernández, a leading member of the ruling National Action Party (PAN, in Spanish), was taken from his Hummer in the state of Querétaro in May, where prosecutors said they had found “signs of violence” in the vehicle.

“As far as the kidnappers are concerned, as a man of faith I forgive them. But as a citizen, I believe the authorities have a job before them,” Fernández said, adding that he would provide details of his captivity later on, The Miami Herald reports.

Fernández was photographed with a large, Santa Claus beard when he appeared before cameras Monday morning.

Weeks after he was kidnapped, his captors released several photographs of him blindfolded, shirtless and holding a dated copy of the investigative weekly magazine Proceso, which tracks Mexico’s ongoing drug war and organized crime.

While this is a happy ending, the battle between the Mexican state and drug cartels operating in the country is responsible for the death of over 30,000 people.

“Impunity allows these groups to operate…. Today it is Diego, tomorrow it could be anyone,” said Jose Antonio Ortega, the president of the Citizen’s Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice in Mexico City, according to The Christian Science Monitor. “We are all exposed.”

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Image: El_Enigma @ Flickr.

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