Carlos Salinas

Carlos Salinas de Gortari (born 3 April 1948) was President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994.

Later years

He divorced and married again, having a son after some time. He seems to spend most of his time in Europe with regular travel to Mexico, but he is no longer the media sensation he was. The Mayor of Mexico City, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, of the left-wing PRD usually blames him for being the mastermind of what he perceives as confabulations against his government and presidential ambitions, not calling him by name but as the unnameable.

Related Topics:
Mayor of Mexico City - Andrés Manuel López Obrador - PRD

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On 6 December 2004, Salinas's youngest brother, Enrique, was found dead inside his car with a plastic bag strapped around his head. At first authorities were reluctant to talk of homicide, but later admitted it was, while denying any political implications. As days passed, authorities believed it was either an accidental killing in an extortion attempt by a close friend or associate, or a passional crime involving a member of his family. In either case, it probably was either improvised or carried out by inexperienced criminals. Enrique's body was abandoned in his car in a zone with surveillance cameras. The tapes show confusion and disorientation by the people who drove Enrique's car to the place and left in another vehicle. Enrique's cell 'phone was used after his death, and left in the car. Unknown fingerprints were left in the car, and human hairs were found in Enrique's fist. It was determined he was knocked unconscious and killed by suffocation, but not by the plastic bag found with his body. Apparently he knew his attackers and it is possible that he voluntarily met with them.

Related Topics:
6 December - 2004 - Enrique

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Many members of his family were called to render testimony, including jailed brother Raúl but not Carlos. Some years ago Enrique was suspected of being financial cover for his elder brothers Raúl and Carlos and had an account in a Swiss bank frozen, but most of the time Enrique held a low profile, being uninvolved with politics and mostly an entepreneur practically unknown to the public. After his death, it was revealed he was currently being investigated in France and by Interpol; that he had some financial problems, and shortly before his death he wrote a letter where he explained in vague terms that he was subjected to terrible pressure by leaks (presumably a magazine article published about him some time before) and friends, and was afraid for his and his family's well being.

Related Topics:
France - Interpol

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In January 2005, authorities were forced to confirm the media leak that there was the possibility Enrique was killed by agents of the AFI (Mexico's federal criminal police force). According to this hypothesis, he had financial problems with his ex-wife and was advised by his lawyer to hire some AFI agents the lawyer knew to fix the problem. Enrique contacted them but later reached an agreement with his ex-wife and tried to forget the matter, but the agents blackmailed and ultimately murdered him. Authorities also acknowledged they were suspicious of members of Enrique's family because they gave conflicting testimony regarding the hours before the murder and their relationship with Enrique was difficult. At roughly the same time, French authorities revealed they were prosecuting brother Raúl and other members of the family for money laundering.

Related Topics:
January 2005 - Money laundering

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