Mexican politician, kidnapped 7 months ago, freed

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's most mysterious and high-profile recent kidnapping came to an end Monday with the liberation of Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, a former presidential candidate and major ruling-party power broker.

Fernandez de Cevallos, a cigar-chomping political kingmaker known as "Boss Diego," emerged looking gaunt and sporting a bushy white beard that had lengthened during his seven months and six days in captivity, but speaking in a firm voice.

He shed no light on the identity of his kidnappers.

"I'm fine, thank God. I am strong," he said as a scrum of TV cameras pressed against him outside his home in the elegant Las Lomas district of the capital. "I will not respond to any questions."

Fernandez de Cevallos, 69, a leading member of the ruling National Action Party (PAN, in its Spanish initials), was the center-right party's presidential candidate in the 1994 elections, losing to Ernesto Zedillo. He also had served as president of the Senate.

Since his disappearance the night of May 14 from his ranch near Queretaro in central Mexico, mystery has surrounded his abduction. His vehicle bore bloodstains and signs of violent resistance. Less than a week after his disappearance, his kidnappers released a photo of him bare-chested and wearing a blindfold. They signed off only as "The Mysterious Disappearers."

Friends and relatives of Fernandez de Cevallos began passing the word early Monday that he'd been freed, generating news bulletins, but the politician didn't appear in public until around 1:30 p.m.

"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," Fernandez de Cevallos said, adding that he would provide details of his captivity later.

Mexican news media reported over the weekend that Fernandez de Cevallos soon would be released after they received a lengthy statement purportedly issued by his captors. Media reports said the kidnappers' undisclosed ransom demands had been met.

The 5,300-word statement brimmed with left-wing critiques of Mexico's political system and neoliberal economic policies. It described Fernandez de Cevallos as an influence peddler serving a corrupt political "mafia" and said he "appeared untouchable until that night when his dark past caught up with him."

The statement, called "Epilogue of a Disappearance," mocked the Mexican government's war on drug cartels, saying the threat posed by poverty was "much more powerful than all the hit men put together." It was signed "Network for Global Transformation."

The captors periodically released photographs of Fernandez de Cevallos, who was shown blindfolded and holding up Mexican publications to prove he was alive. A handwritten letter that Fernandez de Cevallos purportedly wrote in June described captivity as "hell" and urged his family to redouble their efforts to raise the ransom.

The list of possible suspects ranged from drug cartels to leftist guerrilla-type movements that have carried out kidnappings in the past.

The captors were well-prepared, apparently using a scanner to locate an anti-kidnapping tracking chip planted under Fernandez de Cevallos' skin and removing it with scissors when they seized him at the gates of his ranch in the central state of Queretaro.

Even as fellow politicians hailed his release, a few, such as former Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, questioned how such a powerful politician could be held in captivity for so long with so little information.

A gruff manner and a gift for oratory marked Fernandez de Cevallos's career. He was a member of the lower house of Congress from 1991 to 1994 and a senator from 2000 to 2006.

The Milenio media conglomerate said a ransom was paid about 10 days ago for the release of "Boss Diego." Carlos Marin, the Milenio editorial director, who was involved in negotiations, denied that the ransom was as high as $20 million.

Speculation about the group behind Fernandez de Cevallos's abduction ranged from drug traffickers to former leftist guerrillas and on to disgruntled former clients of his law firm, where he defended prominent corporations and alleged drug lords.

Minutes after Fernandez de Cevallos's appearance, President Felipe Calderón's office issued a short statement that celebrated his return but struck a defensive tone about why his administration maintained a hands-off policy on probing the abduction, leaving ransom negotiations to the family.

"At all times, federal authorities were respectful of the decision by relatives of the former PAN legislator in order to prevent harm to him and attain his return," the statement said. "The Attorney General's Office will continue an investigation to apprehend those responsible and bring them to justice."