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WHOEVER CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE
WHOEVER CONTROLS THE PRESENT CONTROLS THE PAST
GEORGE ORWELL 1984
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY
THE CIA IN MEXICO
NATIONAL SECURITY
PRIVATE NETWORK
Today is the day.
Today is the last day Private Network will be published.
In a way, this is me, the columnist Manuel Buendía,
saying farewell to my readers.
I'm sure that some people will be openly happy about it,
while others will lament it a bit.
But, being a bit contrary, as always,
I should say neither group will be right.
But what matters today
is that I have a small farewell gift for all my readers, on both sides.
The end of the story first chapter of which was published here
on July 16th, 1963.
When a journalist ends a phase of his professional life,
he inevitably gives into the temptation of looking back
and asking himself,
"What was the most important,
most entertaining, or most significant information I published?"
PRIVATE NETWORK BY MANUEL BUENDÍA
We have to be careful not to become more naive
and more susceptible to propaganda.
Remember, as someone once said long ago,
"The first casualty of war is truth."
I contend that…
You can include this if you want.
History doesn't have owners. History belongs to no one.
JORGE CARRILLO OLEA, SUBSECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
All of us who write on these topics
have to get close to those we study…
SERGIO AGUAYO JOURNALIST
…to understand their points of view and how they think.
How do you maintain your individuality and keep your distance?
I still don't know.
One day, Manuel told me,
"I have denounced gun traffickers.
I have denounced the Guadalajara Tecos,
and tyrants like Rubén Figueroa."
"But if I take on the drug lords, I'm not just taking a risk,
ALFONSO ZÁRATE POLITICAL ANALYST
I'm laying down my life."
There was a day when I realized, "There's something going on here."
He was getting his shoes shined in front of the Bellinghausen.
I said, "That's Manuel." And I surprised him from behind.
"Manuel!" He jumped a mile.
"Don't scare me like that!" He was on edge.
Manuel came and told us,
"You won't believe the story I'm working on."
IVÁN RESTREPO WRITER
"It's going to blow up."
He looked pale, and he said, "Virgilio, they're going to kill me."
I said, "Manuel, why are you saying…?"
VIRGILIO CABALLERO JOURNALIST
"Look at everything that's happening. They're going to kill me."
Look, if I were to be murdered…
and I were able to say my famous last words,
I would only say this, "I had it coming."
MEXICO CITY WEDNESDAY MAY 30TH, 1984
This afternoon, in Mexico City, journalist Manuel Buendía was murdered.
MURDER
The attackers fled. Police are investigating.
There were only two witnesses,
Rogelio Barrera, a chartered accountant who works close to the scene of the crime.
The other witness is Buendía's coworker, Juan Manuel Bautista.
-Did you work with Buendía? -Yes.
-What did you do? -I was his assistant.
I worked in the archive.
Around 6:30 in the evening, I was working in the center,
LUIS SOTO JOURNALIST
and Juan Manuel called me, and he told me what had happened.
We were going to the parking garage.
He was going to his car, and I was going to make some copies.
He asked me where I was going.
I replied, and that's the last thing he said.
That's when I heard the shots.
Turned around and saw him on the ground.
-How many shots were fired? -He was shot four times.
Do you know how long he was alive after being shot?
-Or did he die instantly? -I believe it was instant.
I saw two people trying to run away.
They ran to the corner of Liverpool Street and then turned left.
I saw a young man trying to help him.
Apparently, it was his assistant.
He tried to follow the shooters.
I saw one of them, and he tried to shoot me,
but I moved aside.
He bumped into someone while running away.
I chased him, but lost sight of him.
I came back to check on Buendía and make calls.
He was obviously very upset, very anxious.
He called me right away.
I told him to go to the office and get me a number of a certain person,
so I could get him to the scene. He was a friend of Buendía's.
Because I wasn't officially mandated to do so before.
Zorrilla called me.
JOSÉ ANTONIO ZORRILLA DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL SECURITY, 1982–1985
And he said in that particular way of his,
"Sir, did you know that Buendía was killed?"
His exact words.
"No, Antonio, you just told me. How else would I know?" I already knew.
Since I got there very quickly…
RAYMUNDO RIVA PALACIO JOURNALIST
…the bus that had stopped was still there. The people were still there.
I knew Juan Manuel Bautista and Luis Soto.
I started to ask questions.
The bus driver
said he had seen two people.
And another person, a tall thin man who was the shooter.
I ran from Varsovia Street…
FÉLIX FUENTES JOURNALIST
…to Insurgentes Avenue.
When I saw him there, lying on the sidewalk in his trench coat…
Just imagine!
I owe him everything
in terms of my development and work as a reporter.
I was five blocks away, eating at a restaurant.
JOSÉ REVELES JOURNALIST
When we found out, we left our food there,
and we walked over to the scene.
There were reporters already on-site.
We reported the story because we were a news agency.
MANUEL BUENDÍA SHOT FOUR TIMES IN THE BACK
MURDER
KILLED BY TWO UNKNOWN GUNMEN
This morning-- I think it was today. I don't know what time it is.
I spoke with him.
He was calm and joking around with me, as usual.
I expected him home early.
I was the one who went to get him.
That's all I have to say.
MIGUEL DE LA MADRID PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, 1982–1988
He was next to her. Very close to her.
MARÍA DOLORES ÁBALOS MANUEL BUENDÍA'S WIDOW
The truth is, that greeting seemed enormously hypocritical
because, of course, Manuel was a victim of power.
Some of those who attended the funeral had been criticized by Buendía.
At times, the criticism was very scathing.
I said to myself,
"They've come to make sure he's really dead."
I strongly condemn what happened.
Violence leads to nothing.
JOURNALIST MURDERED
JOURNALISM MOURNS
I met him almost 40 years ago on Bucareli Street.
He was a crime reporter then.
Later, he covered the presidential affairs.
We traveled the world together.
On many occasions, we shared the same typewriter.
It affected the whole world of journalism.
There was a lot of anger
but also a lot of fear among journalists.
We said, "So many people read his work."
"If they can kill him, what will they do to us?"
Allow me to stop here
and hand things over to our presenter, Manuel Buendía,
winner of the National Journalism Award in 1977 and 1978,
with "What's Said Is Said."
Last Thursday…
in my column, which is published in
30-some newspapers…
We all know that the CIA is an espionage and subversion agency.
It's an instrument of North American imperialism
to accompany us during hard times
and to make them even worse. So…
read my column tomorrow, if you like.
This was "What's Said Is Said."
You'd always hear his readers asking, "Did you read Buendía's column yet?"
He didn't repeat himself or make things up.
He didn't lie.
This gave weight to the information he provided.
CLUELESS
He was a surly-looking guy.
You could even say he looked like a bodyguard.
If you saw him, you'd think he worked for a security agency.
He always carried a gun, either in his belt
or once he showed me
what looked like a thick book,
with a gun under the cover.
He rarely smiled.
He was never flashy.
He was always aware of his surroundings
and of who was there, even if it didn't seem like it.
The first time I saw him,
I said, "Wow, who is that grumpy man?"
I remember that he went after politicians a lot.
ELENA PONIATOWSKA WRITER
He often reported on corruption.
He knew a lot because he knew the police from the inside.
He was a cheerful man, despite his somber face,
with his dark glasses and his mustache.
He didn't look friendly, but he was very cheerful and nice.
A great conversationalist.
We had a great time talking about silly things.
He'd grill me about certain issues.
He was a journalist, after all. And I'd let him.
Aren't you satisfied?
I've told you that I was.
I'm very happy with the way you've run the newspaper these past years.
I have to admit, you increased circulation by 80%,
you made the society pages more prominent,
and you made the comic section very funny for kids.
But that's not enough.
You have to admit this paper isn't the same as before.
-What do you mean? -Simple.
Our reporters get their news from official sources.
We get bulletins that are also published in other papers.
This can't go on!
It was a different Mexico, a different context.
It was a closed system.
You had to learn how to filter information through,
so that it wouldn't be self-censored.
At that time, we didn't really have censorship,
but there was a lot of self-censorship.
We didn't have censorship like in other countries,
where the authorities would read things before they were published.
But there was a strong link between the press and power.
And a lot of money was involved.
It was a mix of censorship
and a strategic alliance between the newspapers and the government.
It was a time when the press and the government were very close.
Among the political tools
the government has historically used
CARMEN ARISTEGUI JOURNALIST
to influence the press in Mexico was their control over the paper supply.
In the past, we controlled the press through PIPSA.
MIGUEL ALDANA DIRECTOR OF INTERPOL MEXICO
PIPSA PRODUCER AND IMPORTER OF PAPER
PIPSA produced newsprint.
They had a monopoly on the production of newsprint.
And the government used it as a means of manipulating
editors and journalists in print media.
They sold it to the newspapers and magazines
at a subsidized rate in the form of bills they didn't collect.
So, the press would accumulate outstanding bills.
If they stepped out of line,
there was a chance the government would collect on that debt,
which was a form of leverage.
Journalism was completely in the hands of the government.
The columnists were controlled by the president
through money,
handouts, houses, cars, taxi permits.
Allied writers and editors
would receive something known as "chayote."
Which were envelopes filled with cash.
According to my journalist colleagues…
…chayote is a fruit
that is very sweet in the center,
but if you touch it, it'll prick you.
FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ PARRA DIRECTOR OF OVACIONES NEWSPAPER
The biggest newspapers in Mexico, economically speaking,
always supported PRI candidates more.
Excélsior was the most important paper, from a political point of view.
But La Prensa was one of the popular tabloids
that always sold well.
Before becoming a journalist, Buendía went to a seminary,
a very conservative one.
When he finally left the seminary, because he didn't want to be a priest,
he went to work for the PAN's newspaper,
La Nación.
He was a Catholic man,
fairly conservative,
but he was the type of person who can evolve.
His way of thinking
became more progressive.
Somehow, while working for the PAN,
he became connected with La Prensa.
MANUEL BUENDÍA TELLEZGIRON EDITOR
His first article was a bit embarrassing, but I'll tell you about it.
The story that started Manuel's career as editor
JEWISH BLOOD WAS ALREADY SHED
was about some swastikas
that were spray-painted on some synagogues.
SWASTIKAS IN MEXICO!
That was his main story.
HITLER REAWAKENS!
LA PRENSA THE PAPER THAT REPORTS WHAT OTHERS DON'T
It was a newspaper that mostly focused on crime.
Manuel gave the newspaper
a twist, a radical transformation.
He got rid of the sensationalism
and made it a fundamentally informative paper
with a political edge.
He said, "When your stories
are read by the audience,
they should read them with pleasure,
without wanting to vomit."
A lot of us like crime stories.
It's an art of patience, an art… of the hunt.
There are various techniques a hunter can use.
One of them is to go in search of the prey.
Another is to go to a place where the prey might come to.
Stay motionless, still as a statue.
Finally, the animal appears.
Standing or sitting, you've got your finger on the trigger.
You'll only have a moment to take aim and shoot.
I think there's a little cop in all of us.
We had a press pass.
They had a police badge.
They gave some of us crime reporters a police badge.
What was it for?
If there was a homicide, I could show up and say I was an agent.
If I said I was a reporter, they wouldn't let me in.
But as an agent, I could go in and start gathering information.
That's why we needed it.
But that doesn't mean we were cops.
FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTORATE DOCUMENTARY
Mexico City is growing fast,
as if it were trying to recover from the past 80 years of stagnation.
Large buildings are being erected, which will make it a modern city.
One of those is that of the Federal Security Directorate.
In the '40s,
as a result of the Cold War,
in Mexico, the Federal Security Directorate
and the Directorate of Political and Social Investigations were created.
Agility is needed for this test.
A member of the group jumps over eight of his classmates
and follows with a somersault,
demonstrating his agility.
Miguel Alemán created the Federal Security Directorate,
modeling it after the FBI
because Alemán was interested in domestic enemies.
It was heroic, so to speak.
JUAN RAFAEL MORO ÁVILA AGENT OF THE FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTORATE
They chose the best police force for federal investigations.
So much so, it was considered one of the best police forces in the world.
The commander pulled me aside and said, "I'll give you a group of men."
"I want you to train them to ride motorcycles
because I want a group of riders who can take trained agents with them
so that we can go anywhere."
I said, "That'll be hard to do."
It was a difficult task. I said, "Why don't we try something different?"
"I'll speak to my buddies whom I ride with."
"They're already riders, motorcycle racers."
"We can hire them, and they can help us out."
And that's how that famous group was formed.
They'd say, "Here come the wasps!" That's what we sounded like.
Tons of bikes, running straight pipes.
Just imagine! Real racers.
Did you learn something?
Practice, and one day, you will be able to do it like these guys.
An interesting anecdote.
In the United States, FBI agents were called G-men.
The Federal Security agents called themselves "Giménez"
trying to copy their idols from the United States.
They were very good at gathering raw information.
But they weren't analysts.
The Federal Security Directorate did everything
an intelligence bureau had to do to know everything about everyone.
That includes… journalists.
We had to have information. We knew who was who.
So, what happened?
We knew everything about the journalists.
I've always thought that there is an unbreakable bond
between society and the press.
LUIS ECHEVERRÍA PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, 1970–1976
The interplay between the press and power,
revolution, opposition, has always been strong.
The press also had to make some progress.
That was Luis Echeverría's signature approach
since he ran for president,
presenting himself in a way that wasn't authentic.
I think he was a born oppressor. A very evil person.
Easily influenced young people!
We will oppose them, wherever they come from.
Whether it's the bureaucracy,
or the corporations,
or the nefarious agencies
controlled from abroad.
Alfonso Martínez Domínguez
was appointed to the municipal government
by Echeverría.
He appointed him mayor of Mexico City.
So, Alfonso looked for someone with journalistic credentials
to be his press officer.
He thought of Buendía
to work for the municipal government in communications.
PRESS OFFICE AND PUBLIC RELATIONS MEXICO CITY
It was Corpus Christi Thursday
and Manuel Buendía's name day.
All of the reporters that covered the city decided to host a dinner for him.
All of a sudden, Buendía said, "I have to go."
"There's something going on, and I think it's serious."
Freedom! Mexico!
Echeverría was determined to prevent the students
from protesting in the streets again.
They hadn't taken to the streets since 1968.
FORCES OPPOSING MEXICO'S PROGRESS
Few people remember that Buendía
STRANGE INFLUENCES WANT TO TRICK OUR YOUTH
happened to be on the wrong side of the Corpus Christi Massacre,
but he wasn't a promoter of the official version either.
WHO ARE THE HALCONES?
FORMAL COMPLAINT BY PHOTOGRAPHERS AND REPORTERS
The Halcones were created and trained,
with their top brass in Japan.
CUENCA DÍAZ SAYS THE HALCONES AREN'T PART OF THE ARMY
I don't know who had the bright idea…
MARTÍNEZ DOMINGUEZ AFFIRMS THAT THE "HALCONES" DON'T EXIST
…to use them against the youth protest.
THE EVENTS UNRAVELED LIKE THIS:
SCENE OF THE EVENT RIOT CONTROL TANKS
LINE OF PROTESTERS
RIOT POLICE
OPPOSING GROUPS
WE WILL NOT ALLOW DISORDERLY CONDUCT
NOBODY IN UNIFORM PARTICIPATED IN THE CLASH
THE MAYOR CAN'T FOOL US IT WAS AN OFFICIAL MASSACRE
Buendía had to manage the information on this issue.
Out of respect for his boss, and because of the official role he had.
But it was obviously a setup in Echeverría's signature style,
where he said one thing but did another.
THOSE RESPONSIBLE WILL BE PUNISHED
WE WILL MOVE FORWARD! - LE
Manuel Buendía said to me, "Look."
"From what I can see, this is over."
"But the president
is asking my boss, Alfonso, to hold a huge demonstration in the Zócalo
to support him and smooth things over after what happened with the Halcones."
There was a crowd.
He packed the Zócalo.
Echeverría was gloating in the National Palace.
When the event was over,
he said, "Alfonso,
I'm really grateful for the demonstration you organized,
and I'm going to ask for a favor."
"Please tell your wife and your children
that, moving forward, you will devote yourself to them…
NEW MAYOR
…because you've already given me all the help I need."
That's how he fired him.
THERE WILL BE NO SETBACKS IN MEXICO'S PROGRESS
Look,
journalism is definitely a form of power.
It's real. You exercise power through the press.
We have influence over society.
We have authority.
Like many others before me, I ask myself,
"Who the hell gave us that power?"
"Did we take it by force?"
"Did we inherit it?"
The change in Manuel Buendía after being a civil servant for a while,
when civil servants…
That time was completely erased. You didn't mention it.
And it didn't matter because Manuel had already taken on his role
as one of the most avid critics of the Mexican political system.
PRIVATE NETWORK
"Contamination and Tyranny."
Excélsior. October 11th, 1979, by Manuel Buendía.
The Acapulco Bay is as contaminated with human waste…
as the Guerrero government is with tyranny.
A chemical analysis of water samples
shows that eight locations on the Acapulco Bay
have water contaminated with bacteria that is usually found
in human feces.
A political analysis showed that the state police chief
has ties with notorious criminals.
As a result of those two short reports,
this columnist faced a frightful avalanche of insults,
provocations, and threats.
THE YEAR 1981
A TRIP TO MEXICO
BROADCAST #1 MR. GOVERNOR!
He told me about the difficult time he had
when Rubén Figueroa threatened his life.
Manuel said that when he would pull up to his home,
he'd put on his high beams,
and he would slowly illuminate the surroundings
to see if anyone was hiding there.
He said that he learned to open the door with his left hand,
while he had his right hand on his gun.
Rubén Figueroa Figueroa was a shady figure in Mexican politics.
He was one of those people
who go down in history
because of the freakish stories about them,
rather than for their political achievements.
When they ask questions that I don't like,
well, when that happens, I…
shoot them in the eye without touching an eyelash.
RUBÉN FIGUEROA GOVERNOR OF GUERRERO, 1975–1981
I distinctly remember his habit
of holding meetings, giving orders, and doing everything
from a swimming pool in his swimming trunks.
Yes, Mr. President?
A school collapsed?
Three dead?
Poor children… We're very sorry.
What was the cause?
It was very old? What town is it in?
Tenancingo, in the municipality of Tlalchapa.
Write it down, please.
Also, he also used to say, "I want to be buried…"
With a bra covering my eyes
and panties over my heart.
That fat, ugly man?
Yes, he threatened him. That governor was dangerous.
He was afraid of him.
It's ready to use.
He was bloodthirsty.
He killed several journalists
and more people in Guerrero than anyone knows about.
Manuel Buendía wrote about it constantly.
They say they that soft people are meant to be eaten.
I'd rather be known for being tough than soft.
I had breakfast with him once for an event.
He bragged to me,
"We barely have guerrillas anymore. We've turned them into fishermen."
"And it's going great."
I asked, "How's that, Rubén?"
"We take them, and with the help of our friends in the Army,
we drop them into the sea from a plane or a helicopter."
"Some can't swim." That's what happened.
Let's remember his famous saying,
"In Guerrero, there are no political prisoners or missing persons."
"They're all dead."
Naturally, Figueroa was very offended
by the things Manuel revealed about his corrupt government.
And since he had already killed people
in the state of Guerrero,
the threat against Manuel Buendía by a murderous governor was serious.
The threat from Mr. Rubén, far from worrying me,
now gives me some sort of protection
from being run over, bar brawls, and even spoiled seafood.
Manuel had what I would call a dark sense of humor.
You noticed how… he would put together questions
to be as venomous as possible towards the person being addressed.
What will those young men become?
What are they now?
Well, they are psychopaths that, in the future,
will be added to the collections of Mexico's criminal museum.
I went to his office a few times.
He called it the MIA, the Mexican Intelligence Agency,
to mock the CIA.
I asked him,
"Manuel, where do you get your information from?"
"Is it from your buddies at the Federal Security Directorate?"
"Is it from the president's office?"
He said, "Look, Jorge,
it's all in the press."
"But people don't know how to read."
"You have to read the newspapers."
"You have to read the sports section,
the gossip pages…
THE CIA KNOWS ABOUT YOU
…and especially the crime section."
He would make clippings,
and he would put them in little bags.
The archive started to grow.
It went from 20 files
to almost 4,000 files.
I said, "It's true!"
"This guy's discovering things
that we see every day without realizing it."
That is the eye of a true journalist.
It's commonly accepted that the world's oldest profession is prostitution.
But I would be willing to argue that espionage is just as old.
It's possible \the oldest reference to espionage…
THE BIBLE
…to spies and their role in society,
dates back to 4,000 years before Christ.
It's found in Chapter two, verse three in the Book of Joshua.
Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from Shittim
and said, "Go learn about Jericho and its land."
They went to the house of a whore named Rahab,
and stayed there.
Here, we see how two of the world's oldest professions
meet in an intriguing situation.
Six thousand years later, things are more or less the same.
On the ground, please!
The concept of the European Cold War
reached a new height or had a second wave
in Central America.
BLANCHE PIETRICH JOURNALIST
The United States and the North American media
thought or fabricated the idea
that Nicaragua was fighting the last frontier against communism
and the remaining Soviet and Cuban influence in the continent.
My fellow Americans…
RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1980–1988
…I ask for this time to tell you of some basic decisions
which are yours to make.
I believe it's my constitutional responsibility
to place these matters before you.
We do not start wars. We will never be the aggressor.
"Associate Thugs." El Sol de México.
February 6th, 1978, by Manuel Buendía.
It is the US newspapers, and not those from the Soviet Union,
that have recently provided evidence
that the Reagan administration
is directly involved in a series of attacks against Nicaragua
which could be the prelude to an invasion.
The Sandinista rule is a Communist reign of terror.
They want to shoot their way into power and establish totalitarian rule.
Thousands who fought
with the Sandinistas have taken up arms against them
and are now called the Contras.
They are freedom fighters.
We, Americans, should be proud
of what we are trying to do in Central America.
This is not only in our strategic interest.
It is morally right
that we want no hostile communist colonies
here in the Americas, South, Central, or North.
Thank you, God bless you, and good night.
At the very start of the war during the armed conflict in El Salvador,
Nacho Rodríguez Terrazas
was the first foreign journalist killed in El Salvador.
IGNACIO RODRÍGUEZ WE CONTINUE YOUR WORK
I called Manuel Buendía that night, completely shocked.
Buendía gave me advice about what to do.
We organized an impressive demonstration.
We spoke to the media so that all of us would be there
when Nacho Rodríguez Terrazas's body arrived.
That was the first reality check for me.
And for others too.
All Mexican journalists are shaken…
PRIVATE NETWORK REQUIEM FOR IGNACIO
…by the murder of our colleague Ignacio Rodríguez Terrazas.
He died as he surely would have chosen.
In action.
He basically died in the arms of two other journalists
who were filled with shock and rage.
As long as there are honest journalists in Mexico, we will honor his name.
Let's promise what we must promise,
let's risk what we must risk
to be worthy colleagues to that 28-year-old man
who set the example.
Whenever anything important happened,
the next day, other columnists
would write about it and give their analysis.
Then you'd read Private Network, and it'd be about something else.
Days would go by, and Manuel would write about other things.
Until suddenly, there it'd be.
"Bombs from the Right."
El Universal. February 2nd, 1978.
The technique used to plant a bomb
in the Cuban ambassador's car
is 100% North American.
Nothing is improvised. Nothing is left to chance.
This isn't a game.
Bombs are a message.
THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY 50,000 YELL, "NO TO ABORTION!"
Messages don't always say the same thing, nor are they sent by one person.
Guadalajara has one of the oldest and most violent fascist organizations…
THE TERRORIST HAD A BACKUP GRENADE
…with the most members.
THEY PREFER DEATH OVER COMMUNISM
The Tecos, these people from the far right,
some of them have German heritage.
They come from an almost pro-Nazi background.
FASCISTS?
Our fascism doesn't have a face.
It's an act of nature.
Like a sunset or a dust storm.
Manuel had published some fierce articles
against the University of Guadalajara.
Because they were a far-right organization.
They were dangerous, murderous…
WHAT ARE THE "TECOS"? ANTORCHA
It's headquartered at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara.
It controls the majority of students and professors,
and its symbol is an owl
because it watches and lurks in the dark.
In 1967 or 1966, I don't remember exactly, monitoring of Manuel Buendía began.
RAMÓN LIRA JUDICIAL POLICE OFFICER, 1971–1985
JUDICIAL POLICE
They ordered me to monitor him.
-Who ordered you? -The heads of the Tecos.
THE CUESTA-GALLARDOS
I was there when they gave the order to kill him at the earliest opportunity.
WE MUST GET TO THE ROOT OF THE ATTACK
He was bothering them.
AMERICAN AGENT WHO THREW THE GRENADE DIDN'T ACT ALONE
He was an observer with a keen eye
for published information.
Maybe he would find an article in one of the sections of the newspaper
about a shipment of weapons that was detected at the border.
And a few days later, he'd suddenly find something else
that seemed to be a part of the same puzzle.
And that's how he put together most of his articles.
Manuel Buendía had several regulars,
and Gerhard Mertins was one of them.
PRIVATE NETWORK ARMS FOR SALE
One of the key international arms traffickers,
a former Nazi SS member, has established offices in Mexico.
And in his own words, he conducts his Central American operations from here
to fight Communism.
He was one of their suppliers,
and he had close relations with the armed forces.
THEY WILL BRING BUENDÍA'S GERMAN
MERTINS, PRIME SUSPECT
In the '80s, Mexico was the world capital of espionage.
Everyone was here.
Soviets, East Germany, Cuba.
Let me see…
Today I… This afternoon…
Yes.
I'm meeting with a group of Nicaraguans to talk.
After that, I have a dinner.
That means…
Only if it could be around 6:30.
Yes.
So, you're busy at…
-Five. -At five?
Yes, and later, at 8:30.
It was a hotbed of espionage that Mexico didn't participate in.
Shamefully, Mexico did participate in some way.
Which was by wiretapping all the phones
from lists provided by the CIA.
We did the dirty work for the CIA.
-What is your address, sir? -Forty-eight Nápoles Street.
-Nápoles… -Forty-eight.
-Yes.
-Which floor? -Second floor.
-Between Londres and Liverpool Street.
They used recorders that would be off,
and the moment someone picked up the phone,
the machine would turn on and start recording.
When they hang up, the recorder would stop.
Then very good typists
transcribed the conversation.
Lawrence Sternfield, 52 years old,
is the current head of the CIA in Mexico.
His undercover identity is an attaché
to the group of diplomatic officials
that the United States government officially confirmed were here in 1977.
JESÚS ESQUIVEL JOURNALIST
Any hint that reveals the identity of a CIA agent,
puts them in a vulnerable position, wherever they are.
Not only do they consider themselves in danger,
but they also consider the national security of the US in danger.
So for a Mexican journalist
to know the identities of CIA operatives and agents in Mexico
wasn't just a big professional victory,
but it also meant that Manuel Buendía had good connections.
Stewart Burton, 52 years old,
failed religious preacher,
is the current head of the CIA in Mexico.
His office is located at 48 Río de la Plata.
And if you want to ask him something about the CIA,
you can call him at 633-59-80.
Dr. Phillip Aler, James Anderson,
Robert Bruce, Gilbert Carey, William Carson, Harry Chandler…
Every country and government has its own spies,
its own intelligence service to collect information.
But information services are one thing, and espionage is another.
And subversive acts are even worse.
"The dirty work," as the Americans say.
"The dirty work."
The CIA murdered people here.
When the article came out, and we got together to talk,
we were afraid something would happen to him
because we knew what the CIA did in Latin America and all over the world.
They plant a bomb,
or you're in a car crash, and it looks like an accident.
HE KILLED HIS WIFE AND THEN HIMSELF
Manuel was very brave with what he published.
I knew about the Tecos,
I knew about Mr. Mertins's gun trafficking,
I knew about several enemies of his that were hypothetical suspects
in the Buendía case.
So, they never knew…
In my opinion, it was almost the perfect crime.
When do journalists, covering these stories, cross the line
and put themselves at risk?
It's in the details.
The person who published detailed information…
was Manuel Buendía.
I think that retaliation and risks are part of the job.
As I've said many times before,
"You have to take the rough with the smooth."
MAY 30TH, 1984
Special programming about the annular solar eclipse…
ALL OF MEXICO WATCHED THE ECLIPSE!
…for May 30th, 1984, at 9:00 a.m.
THE MOON BETWEEN APOGEE AND PERIGEE
This is a production
of National Autonomous University of Mexico Radio.
Special edition for the annular solar eclipse.
ECLIPSE MOMENTARILY VISIBLE
TODAY'S SOLAR SHOW
This morning, the annular solar eclipse over Mexico.
Scientists from all over the country
got together at exactly 9:29 and 47 seconds
when the eclipse reached its peak.
He was killed this afternoon, with five shots in the back,
one of which went through the heart.
Today, Excélsior reports that Buendía always carried a gun
and used to say, "If they kill me, it'll have to be from behind
because if they attack me head-on, I'll take some of them with me."
So, they called Zorrilla. "They just killed Buendía."
They called me over the radio,
"F7-L1, make contact immediately. Bring the Wasps to this address."
"There's been a homicide."
And that's when I said, "Why are we going to see a homicide?"
"It's an order. Let's go."
The agents arrived quickly. Zorrilla arrived a little later,
but they arrived quickly
and started speaking to Juan Manuel Bautista.
-What is your name? -Juan Manuel Bautista.
-Did you work with Buendía? -Yes.
I was inside.
I heard Juan Manuel Bautista give them the same description.
"He was tall, about 5'9''."
"Dark complexion, thin mustache."
"He had a crew cut."
"Muscular. A guy from the coast."
The Federal Security Directorate took files from the archive.
I don't know how many files they took, but I saw them taking them.
Luis Soto was very upset and said, "They're taking the files."
JOURNALIST MURDERED
The Feds are the Feds.
We had orders, and we were more fierce.
The Feds have always been more respected.
We gathered all the evidence and spoke to the witnesses.
So, when the murder occurred,
the Federal Security Directorate was the first thing I thought of.
BUENDÍA'S MURDER WAS NOT POLITICAL
Crimes of passion are a common thing in the police work.
But nobody believed that a lover
would pull on his trench coat
and shoot him in the back.
That's what a professional does.
SECOND SHOT
THIRD AND FOURTH SHOTS
EXAMINATION OF THE CRIME SCENE
None of the facts nor the nature of the crime
were consistent with a crime of passion.
PRIVATE NETWORK COLUMN ANALYSIS
BEFORE HIS MURDER
We jumped into action as a union
to hold a demonstration the following day,
which was very well attended.
The union made itself heard.
MANUEL BUENDÍA FOUNDATION
We held a short rally at the Ministry of the Interior,
asking to speak with Mr. Manuel Bartlett.
Why are you closing it?
-This is a public office. -I don't get why this is closed.
Justice!
The secretary of the interior.
Manuel Bartlett…
Tell him the Union of Journalists is here.
The secretary of the interior.
"The secretary isn't here. He's very busy."
"We'll wait."
Two seconds later, by some miracle,
Manuel Bartlett appeared and met with us.
We told him we were angry
because there were no results.
And he told us, "I will get involved."
Mexico's future is at stake,
and Mexicans want this.
True democracy.
Honesty and good faith.
Manuel Bartlett Díaz is an impressive political figure.
Manuel Bartlett Díaz has been everything but president.
Manuel Bartlett is the type of Mexican politician
from the old PRI, where the idea of the state
was different from what we have now.
And that's what defines him.
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 1982–1988
SECRETARY OF EDUCATION 1988–1992
GOVERNOR OF PUEBLA 1993–1999
SENATOR/LABOR PARTY 2012–2018
DIRECTOR FEDERAL ELECTRICITY COMMISSION, 2018
De la Madrid seemed terribly worried
about keeping the country afloat,
and Manuel Bartlett seemed terribly worried about becoming president.
How did Manuel Bartlett suggest to the president
that Zorrilla should take over the investigation?
The investigation conducted by the authorities would have been pointless.
Rogelio Hernández played an important role,
without ever having met Manuel Buendía.
Because he was
a tireless advocate for justice.
ROGELIO HERNÁNDEZ JOURNALIST
First, we looked at Buendía's friends and enemies.
One person stood out. His very good friend, Zorrilla.
Zorrilla was Manuel Buendía's buddy.
They even went shooting together at Military Camp 1.
I have nothing bad to say about Zorrilla
before the Federal Security Directorate.
He was the ambitious type, lacking in morals,
disloyal, crooked, unpleasant, unsettling,
but that's it.
But he went crazy at the Federal Security Directorate.
He once told me, and, again, I quote,
"I'm going to make Manuel president."
"And then, you'll know…"
The Federal Security Directorate played a huge role
by breaking the law and interfering with the investigation.
I mean, there were signs
that suggested that they were involved.
They had no reason to take the files from the archive.
Zorrilla once said privately,
"Bartlett ordered us to take the files."
Even back then, some journalists accused Bartlett directly.
He felt singled out, and that lit a spark.
That's when they started to investigate Zorrilla, I think.
And everything the DFS did, started to get exposed.
Federal Security Directorate commanders were the country's first drug lords.
There was no distinction between drug traffickers, organized crime,
and the Federal Security Directorate.
A well-known connection
is the protection provided to the Guadalajara Cartel.
The head of the cartel was Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo,
and Ernesto Fonseca, also known as Don Neto,
and Rafael Caro Quintero were members.
These were the connections that Manuel Buendía was following.
What was taken from Buendía's archive?
Everything he had collected about drug trafficking.
Here's a very interesting anecdote.
José Antonio Zorrilla told the Ministry,
"Look at us. We don't need a budget."
Why? Because he had a national web of corruption
that brought in billions.
Manuel took me to lunch and sternly said,
"The Federal Security Directorate is involved in drug trafficking."
"Manuel, as a journalist, you may think that,
but it is a very serious accusation."
"You don't know, but you do know. You do."
That was my last interview with him,
three or four days before they killed him.
Was Buendía wrong to trust Zorrilla?
In my opinion, yes.
He couldn't be friends with someone he knew was protecting criminals.
That is, if he knew about it.
For months, or maybe even a year,
they've been keeping the case file hidden.
Nothing has been done.
They lost everything.
They lost his clothes. Why?
How is it possible to lose everything in the investigation of this magnitude?
LIBERTY
Will my husband's murderer go unpunished?
I saw how things were developing,
and I thought, "Something big is going to happen here."
Then Zorrilla showed up at my office and said,
"I've come to say farewell."
"Where are you going?"
"The secretary has appointed me as a representative back home,
and then I'll become a governor."
At that point, there were at least four investigations into the Buendía case.
Three official ones, and one conducted by journalists.
And all of them pointed to Zorrilla.
Even though he denies it, that's why Bartlett
got him out of Hidalgo,
and told him to leave the country.
And Antonio Zorrilla Pérez went to Spain.
BUENDÍA INVESTIGATION HELP!
We will not close ongoing investigations.
Especially in the case
of the murder of renowned journalist Manuel Buendía
that took place five years ago.
We will double up our efforts.
This week, Mexico City's district attorney general
and the special prosecutor appointed to this case
will present an overview of the investigation to the public.
Yesterday, the results of the investigation
into the murder of Manuel Buendía were released.
That's why we are speaking with Mr. Ignacio Morales Lechuga,
who is Mexico City's district attorney general.
When the special prosecutor's office began their work
under Miguel Ángel García Domínguez,
they compiled a set of 298 hypotheses,
based on Manuel Buendía's newspaper columns,
and 24 that were based on personal and family relationships.
From these hypotheses, clues were collected
using a methodology, system, and structure
developed by the special prosecutor's office.
Is it prudent, or even possible,
to solve this case before its sixth anniversary?
All I can say is… hopefully.
Why are you making this statement now?
Because I wasn't formally mandated to do so before.
What is your statement regarding the homicide?
We're here to provide information for the investigation.
Ask your questions in the office.
Where have you been for the last four years?
I've been… to many places.
Like what, sir?
TUESDAY, JUNE 13th, 1989
I received a phone call confirming his location.
I heard distinct gunfire in the background.
So I said, "Stop shooting."
"But he's shooting at us." "Let him, but don't you shoot."
He was in his bedroom.
I went up the stairs, towards his bedroom.
I took the stairs, and I saw the door open,
and the barrel of a gun appeared.
I said, "Zorrilla, I'm the district attorney general."
"Don't shoot."
"I'm unarmed," I shouted.
So, he opened the door, and I entered. He pointed the gun at me.
He kept threatening to kill me.
That's when the phone rang.
I went to answer it, but he said, "No!" He answered it, while holding the gun.
CORNERED
The president called me and said,
"Go to the city hall
because there's a very big problem."
That's when I found out that Ponce Rojas and Nacho Morales
wanted to detain Zorrilla, and that Zorrilla had them at gunpoint.
Finally, after three hours,
he took his coat and his hat,
and we left.
We noticed that he had a gun behind his back.
I said, "I'll buy you dinner."
That's what I said. "Let's all have dinner together."
We are outside the District Attorney General's Office,
where today, Mr. Zorrilla Pérez is being interrogated,
accused of allegedly murdering Manuel Buendía.
I waited at the District Attorney General's Office,
and Nacho Morales arrived with Zorrilla.
And when I greeted Zorrilla,
I gave him a hug and took the gun he was hiding behind his back.
I said, "Forgive me, buddy, but I'll be here,
and I don't tolerate these sorts of things."
I didn't actually see the interrogation.
Nacho put on a movie about a journalist…
an old movie about a journalist called-- some movie.
I don't know what's happening in Mexico.
Nothing happens in Mexico!
I can't believe this news to end the year.
The news is like a rabbit.
It jumps out where you least expect it.
You have to catch it mid-flight.
He even ordered dinner.
With everyone there, it felt like a family gathering.
I told Nacho, "I'm going to interrogate Zorrilla."
"Those are my orders." I interrogated him for two or three hours.
He said, "Look, you can kill me."
"It wasn't me."
"I know who it was, but I won't tell you."
"But, Javier, I'll take the fall for it."
And he did.
So, they detained Zorrilla,
but they didn't touch his money or his ranches
or any of his property.
In exchange for what?
For turning himself in and for his silence.
Zorrilla never spoke about the case.
ZORRILLA GOES DOWN
ZORRILLA CAPTURED CHARGES PILE UP
NO EXIT FOR ZORRILLA GUILTY
That's when I started working in film.
-What parts did you play? -The bad guy, the villain.
Tell your pigs
that there isn't enough money in the world to buy me.
I'll keep reporting you until I die.
Today we are joined by Dr. Dela Balza, the renowned criminologist.
I always did action films.
I was always the thug or the cop.
We arrived at a studio where there was a news reporter,
and we shot everyone,
even the guys that do the lights.
I killed a lot of people in movies.
Later I played an assassin.
A skilled one, because I took out a lot of people.
I was in a hotel, with a girl
when my mom called and said, "What did you do, Juan Rafael?"
I got scared.
"I didn't do anything. Why?"
"They came to your house and broke down your doors."
"They beat your dog unconscious."
"They stole everything you had."
WE FELL INTO A TRAP, SAYS MORO'S MOTHER
"They have orders to turn you in dead."
"And they will say that you admitted to killing Buendía before dying."
"So, be careful, son."
I got scared after that.
I said, "Mom, find me a lawyer and file for protection."
POLICE CAPTURE JUAN RAFAEL MORO ÁVILA
I was a cop. I knew what was going on.
I ran away, and I was playing games with the police.
They were dumb.
"Where's my protection?"
When she said she had it, I came back immediately.
I left my guns.
I was well-armed, so in case they were going to kill me,
they would die too.
I turned myself in, unarmed.
Then I saw they had snipers,
shooters, and a swarm of police.
They put me against the car. "What's up? Easy."
I was a cop. I knew I had a clear conscience.
I turned myself in. They took me in the squad car.
The District Attorney General's Office
will bring Juan Rafael Moro Ávila before criminal court 34 today
on the charge of being an accomplice to homicide.
They threatened my family.
BUENDÍA'S MURDERER CAUGHT
They detained my family, and were using them to pressure me.
That's why I agreed to a press conference. But I never incriminated myself.
I DIDN'T KILL BUENDÍA!
I didn't incriminate anyone.
The day they killed the journalist,
Juan Moro Ávila, then head of the Special Motorcycle Brigade,
was at the Federal Security Directorate offices
when he was informed that that afternoon,
a special operation called "News" would be taking place.
Special Operation News?
Everything he's saying isn't true.
That bastard is reading my whole statement!
Finally, I said, "If you're gonna pressure me, fine."
"I helped the killer." But I didn't know who he was.
"We'll say Chocorrol jumped on your bike,
CHOCORROL WAS THE SHOOTER
and you thought he was a DFS agent, so you went to investigate…
…and after a while, we'll say that he killed him,
and we'll get you out of trouble."
"THEY BETRAYED ME," CRIES MORO
They were trying to blame Chocorrol.
It was all political. They had me and my family in a bind.
We were all trapped. I said, "If this is the only way out, fine."
They asked me to report to the address, which I did.
The commander ordered me to comb the area. I got off the bike to get instructions.
I got on the bike.
I started my bike to go comb the area by myself,
when Mr. Chocorrol jumped on the back.
I recognized him from the office.
I thought he was also a Federal Security agent.
We took off, and he said, "Go to the right, go to the left."
I said, "Let's check. We're after someone who fits this description."
I didn't realize what I was doing.
I was collaborating in a homicide.
The District Attorney General's Office
revealed details about the death of José Luis Ochoa Alonso,
also known as "Chocorrol."
Yesterday, Moro Ávila named Chocorrol
as the person responsible for killing Manuel Buendía.
I'll fully cooperate and tell you everything.
I love journalists. I have journalistic inclinations,
and I've always taken care of reporters.
I love you all.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!
IMAGINE THE ONES WHO DON'T LOVE US!
Around 7:30 at night,
Mr. José Antonio Zorrilla Pérez arrived at Mexico City's Northern Jail.
Mr. Zorrilla was traveling in a white car,
which was part of a convoy of 15 judicial police vehicles.
He shouted that he was innocent to some journalists.
One of them managed to stick their recorder
into the squad car Zorrilla Pérez arrived in and obtained this audio.
Are you guilty or innocent, Mr. Zorrilla?
Innocent. I need the press to help me.
Thank you.
As a result of the investigations
and his recent conduct,
José Antonio Zorrilla Pérez is presumed responsible
for the homicide of Manuel Buendía Tellezgirón,
as the mastermind behind that act.
NO ESCAPE FOR ZORRILLA
Based on the evidence,
Juan Rafael Moro Ávila was the one who shot Manuel Buendía.
MORO IN JAIL WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?
ZORRILLA AND MORO UNDOUBTEDLY KILLED BUENDÍA
ZORRILLA GAVE THE ORDER
MORO SHOT
BUENDÍA CASE CLOSED
We felt that Manuel Buendía's investigation was
quite typical for the police.
With crazy stories,
and then the biker guy
who was the grandson of President Ávila Camacho.
Everything is overdramatized, and doesn't lead to the truth.
We supposed that they would cover up the real motive.
But we didn't imagine that we were on the cusp of a story
that would engulf us.
It was the emergence of the cartels.
One month before the murder,
a report was published
by the bishops from the South Pacific
which said that they were seeing
drug traffickers infiltrating state institutions.
Manuel Buendía picked up the story and published two articles about that.
NATIONAL SECURITY
"National Security."
Excélsior. May 14th, 1984.
By Manuel Buendía.
Drug trafficking has evidently picked up in Mexico
since 1982.
And this can't be achieved without help from the inside.
They say that in this dirty business,
there is direct or indirect complicity
of the top state and federal officials.
Based on what the bishops have reported, and also other sources,
this is a matter of national security.
THE PROGRESSIVE, APRIL, 1985 WHO KILLED MANUEL BUENDÍA?
A MEXICAN MYSTERY BY MATTHEW ROTHSCHILD
"TO KILL ME, THEY WILL HAVE TO SHOOT ME IN THE BACK."'
WHO KILLED MANUEL BUENDÍA
That was a major piece that Unomásuno did in its Sunday section.
He thought it was either by people who wanted to keep
Manuel Buendía from revealing connections to the drug traffickers, to the cartel.
RUSSELL BARTLEY HISTORIAN
Or it was CIA, it was the US government, trying to prevent…
things they were into
that had to do with drug trafficking, the Contras, and crime.
The bodies, found wrapped in plastic at a ranch 100 miles from Guadalajara,
were badly decomposed.
Enrique Camarena was investigating drug trafficking in Mexico
when he was kidnapped near the US consulate in Guadalajara.
He was tortured, and two days later, murdered by his captors,
believed to be drug dealers angry at Camarena's interference.
The two men the US government thinks ordered the Camarena murder,
and are eager to try, are drug kingpins are Rafael Caro Quintero
and Ernesto Fonseca.
They are already in prison in Mexico.
All of a sudden, my phone rang.
They asked me if I was Jesús Esquivel.
I said, "Yes. Who's calling?"
He said, "I'm Héctor Berrellez."
I was in charge of investigating the murder of Kiki Camarena.
What he told me would change history.
The story to cover up Kiki's murder
and to cover up the CIA's complicity in Kiki's murder…
HÉCTOR BERRELLEZ DEA
…is to say that Kiki was killed by the drug lords
for the biggest marijuana seizure in the history of law enforcement.
Over 10,000 tons.
That is a complete fabrication.
Camarena did not participate in the Buffalo raids.
One of the things Berrellez told me was,
when he took over the investigation,
the first thing he did was
he took all of Kiki's belongings from the DEA office in Guadalajara.
And the first thing he saw was Kiki Camarena's planner.
The planner had Buendía's phone number in it.
Héctor Berrellez and the DEA told us also about that connection.
And, supposedly, they had met once.
So we knew that then.
Well, back then, Manuel Buendía
was visited by Javier Vázquez, a reporter out of Veracruz.
The reporter told Manuel Buendía that he had uncovered a ranch
in Veracruz
that the DFS was protecting
and that the ranch belonged to Rafael Caro Quintero.
Zorrilla Pérez told Manuel Buendía,
"Don't write any of it. Please. Leave that alone."
"That is…"
"Don't even go there. That's a big secret."
The most American investigators are hoping for
is that those responsible will be arrested and tried in Mexico.
So, my first objective was to find witnesses.
And ironically enough, they identified an American agent to me.
LAWRENCE HARRISON CIA COLLABORATOR, 1968–1985
He was a guy who,
as far as I know,
was a drinking buddy of the Guadalajara group.
The November of 1983,
he's living in Ernesto Fonseca's house, for crying out loud.
He's married, and he has his own house, but he's managing
the electronic communications,
the radio communications that the cartel had there.
Who knew anything a bout Harrison? He was a very complicated human being.
He was deep cover, and he was his own handler.
Obviously, he reported to somebody.
A lot of his reporting was actually to Mexican intelligence people.
He had a superior, superiors in DFS, and so on.
And I thought, "This is strange."
"An American person working for the DFS?"
THIS IS THE FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTORATE
A tiger is a powerful animal that doesn't run from danger.
It attacks head-on.
It prefers to act in silence, and it sees what others don't.
This is what a DFS agent should be like.
I went through a lot of hardship to try to get to this guy.
So finally, I got him on the phone, and I talked to him.
And he said, "You don't know what you're dealing with."
"You're treading in very deep waters."
"You don't know where you're going with this."
"I'm not hiding from you. I'm hiding from my own agency now."
"I work for the CIA."
But when they came after him, when it was clear they'd do him in,
one way or another, he said, "To hell with it."
You know, that's when he let us record and photograph and…
This is an interview conducted by Russell Bartley
with Lawrence Victor Harrison
at his residence in Riverside, California,
on Thursday, June 18th, 2009.
And, you know, you and I had a discussion about that.
But… the person who was blamed for it,
the person who publicized it was Manuel Buendía.
Where he got the lists, I don't know. He said he got them from Zorrilla.
Then Zorrilla later on said,
"I had to take care of him. He found something out."
"Something that I can't tell you what it is, but it's very important."
It certainly wasn't the credential. Everybody already knew about that.
It wasn't Mertins or anything like that.
It was something else.
Why did they kill Buendía?
Buendía? Because he had seen about these airstrips.
That's what they were pissed about. That was the whole thing.
That was their problem.
You now see partly, a part of what's happening.
You don't have the grounding, but you're getting close.
You've been around, talking to people.
But if you're not able to put that together,
you should see we're running it.
We've been running it for a long ti--
When I tell you these things, I tell you because I saw them, you know.
And when he was here, he said, "Listen."
"We have a secret operation. We're running guns
into Central and South America, many to the Contras, through Mexico."
"And we're also bringing in tons of cocaine."
"We are funding the Nicaraguan war with coke."
And I said, "Who's 'we'?" He said, "Oliver North, Félix Rodríguez."
OLIVER NORTH US NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER
Félix Rodríguez is a dark person…
with some incredible stories in Latin America that seem like fiction.
Starting with the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
And eventually, the assassination of Che Guevara
in Bolivia.
They sent him to Mexico
because there were investigations by the US Congress
about the weapons the Contras were receiving.
Would it be fair to say, Mr. Rodríguez, that this operation
was controlled by the United States government?
I didn't consider that.
I considered that
Colonel North had the interest to help the Nicaraguan freedom fighter.
When you lose your country, you feel abandoned,
and have nobody to go to, if anybody comes to your help
under those circumstances,
it would be immoral for me not to go to him
or help him in any way or form.
You are a former CIA agent, are you not?
-Yes, sir. -All right.
Kiki Camarena was targeted
because he found out about the Veracruz ranch.
They feared that he knew about the training camps
and he knew of the collusion of the DFS, the CIA with the narcos.
I mean, you start putting pieces of the puzzle together, and you see it.
We killed Buendía. We killed Camarena. We, the Americans.
The CIA, to this day, feels they did nothing wrong.
The war against communism is first, above in priorities than the drug war.
I'm DEA, and I'm saying, "You're wrong."
To me, you're destroying our country.
You're destroying our youth, and you guys are drug dealers.
GEORGE BUSH CIA DIRECTOR
We may not be talking about security.
We're talking about regime goals and objectives in the world. Policy.
What has always been on our minds
is, "Who?"
Zorrilla had no personal issues with Manuel.
The issues were coming from higher up, from top officials.
When I left court, I ran into a guy with blue eyes who said,
"Moro, you didn't kill Buendía."
"Of course not."
"I know who did it. It wasn't you."
He said he knew a guy,
Luis Sayas, who worked as a hit man.
Sayas said he had a .38 caliber gun.
According to him, they saw Buendía leave and said,
"That's Buendía."
He crossed the street, shot him at point-blank range
and ran away.
When they left, they got orders for another job.
To rob a jewelry store…
A jewelry store in Acapulco with a lot of gold.
Upon arrival they got into a shooting, and Luis Sayas was killed. They shot him.
They filled him with a lot of bullets and dumped him in a common grave.
That's where Buendía's killer is.
AFTER SPENDING 18 YEARS IN PRISON,
JUAN RAFAEL MORO ÁVILA WAS RELEASED IN FEBRUARY 2009
-Hello, Mr. Zorrilla. -How are you?
I'm here to meet with you again.
-I hope we aren't bothering you. -No, not at all.
-You sure? -Of course.
I'm happy to hear that, sir.
I'm innocent, and so are my associates.
The authorities need to investigate the matter.
I went to the crime scene because Luis Soto called me.
I arrived quickly
because it was five minutes away from my office.
I went quickly to see a friend
who I was told had been shot.
I went to help him and see if I could save his life.
If that's a crime, I would gladly do it again.
I'm convinced that it is a state crime.
Zorrilla is not guilty.
May Mr. Morales Lechuga forgive me
and the government and whoever else as well,
but I questioned him.
I interrogated him.
And with all due respect, I'm good at that.
AFTER 25 YEARS IN PRISON,
JOSÉ ANTONIO ZORRILLA PÉREZ WAS PLACED UNDER HOUSE ARREST IN 2013
When the PRI controlled Mexico in the '80s,
the code of silence was very important, and it still is.
Before he dies,
Zorrilla should give his version of the story.
Hopefully, he does.
History belongs to no one.
In that sense, those of us who have lived for so long
should not keep our "secrets" to ourselves,
especially if they concern matters that affect the whole nation.
The history of Mexico in the 20th century
is the story of the crumbling of the Mexican state
and the emergence and consolidation of organized crime.
And in that story, we have to include figures like Manuel Buendía.
Manuel Buendía, like other great journalists of the 19th century,
returned to the liberal tradition,
though it's much more evolved this century,
and he made journalism a weapon.
I think he was the first journalist that,
if I remember correctly, was killed this way.
On the street.
That's where it happened, leaving his office.
A crime against all of Mexico. It wasn't just against one man.
But the ideas, freedom, and truth will always live on,
regardless of whether they murder brave men like Manuel Buendía.
He continued to report,
but the people with power remained in the limelight.
And to take such enormous risks for zero results
is disappointing and unfair.
And it makes you ask yourself, "What for?"
WHAT FOR?
"God's Truce."
When the meadow catches fire,
when there's a threat of flood,
or something frightens the animals,
the beasts and vermin share refuge
without fighting.
Without tearing each other to pieces.
The farmers call this "God's truce."
Let's call a truce.
If we are not capable of acting rationally,
let us be guided by our animal instincts.
What does this mean?
How meaningful are the other things that are happening?
I repeat, we have the need and the subject matter
to examine a political event
that is multilayered, that has different shades and textures,
and that probably has deceptive lighting.
Well, there will hopefully still be time
to keep speaking with you, in front of you.
For now, thank you for listening to me today.
Subtitle translation by: B.P.