Fears after ex-presidential candidate disappears
The mysterious disappearance of a former Mexican presidential candidate has sparked fear that nobody is safe from relentless kidnapping and rampant drug violence.
Diego Fernandez de Cevallos was reported missing over the weekend and his car was found in the central state of Queretaro with some evidence of violence. Authorities said yesterday that they did not know if he was kidnapped or if drug gangs were involved.
Many feared one of Mexico’s most successful lawyers and enduring politicians was targeted by kidnappers and any involvement by drug trafficking gangs would signal an escalation in the government’s bloody battle with organised crime.
“If it’s a cartel action, it is definitely another escalation in the attacks of drug traffickers against the government,” said George Grayson, a professor at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.
“It shows that no one is immune from their reach, not even a multi-millionaire super-lawyer.”
There was still no evidence that the 69-year-old power broker had been kidnapped, said Ricardo Najera, spokesman for the federal Attorney General’s Office.
Mr Fernandez de Cevallos’ disappearance comes amid a wave of drug violence that has killed more than 22,700 people since Calderon launched a crackdown against organised crime in December 2006. Drug traffickers are increasingly attacking political and government leaders in retaliation.
Last week, gunmen burst into the farm supplies business of mayoral candidate Jose Guajardo Varela and killed him and his son after he ignored warnings to drop out of the race in Valle Hermoso, 30 miles south of Brownsville, Texas.
Prosecutors and police are aiding Queretaro state investigation in the probe that had lines of officers combing the fields of rural central Mexico for signs of Mr Fernandez de Cevallos.
Mr Fernandez de Cevallos was the 1994 presidential candidate of President Felipe Calderon’s National Action Party and has continued to be an influential figure. He finished second to Ernesto Zedillo that year, but his party finally won the presidency six years later when Vicente Fox was elected.
The bearded, cigar-chomping politician known as “El Jefe Diego” – “Diego the Boss” – is an elder statesman for Mexico’s centre-right ruling party. He is also known for his brash, confrontational statements as he brushed off accusations of using his political ties to advance his practice as an lawyer for some of Mexico’s richest businesses.
He exchanged insults with public figures including Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos and left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, labelling the latter “a danger for Mexico”.
In 2005, critics of Mr Fernandez de Cevallos accused him of building a road with public funds to the home town of his then-girlfriend.
Kidnappers often target the wealthy in Mexico but rarely go after such high-ranking politicians or public officials.
Alejandro Marti, a Mexican businessman and anti-crime activist, said in a Twitter feed that the disappearance was another failure of law enforcement.
“Another kidnapping and we know about it because it was a public (figure). And all the others?” said Mr Marti, who son was kidnapped and killed in 2008.
“How many more lives before you get to work? It’s infuriating!”
