Colosio: Political Assassination (2026) s01e03 Episode Script
The Second Shooter
-(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-(POLICE SIREN WAILING)
DAY OF THE ATTACK
LAURA SÁNCHEZ LEY: On March 23,
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega,
who was allegedly
an agent of CISEN,
had been transferred
to the facilities of the PGR.
They believed that he had gotten
very close to the candidate
and had fired the second shot
into his stomach.
When he's admitted
to the PGR facilities,
he sees Mario Aburto in a cell
on the right-hand side.
I walked by there
with the people
who were going to torture me,
with the federal agents.
MARIO ABURTO'S BROTHER
And one of the agents
says to him,
"And what are you doing here?"
"Well, they brought me
because I have
Colosio's blood on me."
Sánchez Ortega.
I kept staring and felt
like running to hug him.
I thought he was my brother.
He had the same haircut.
Everything was the same.
The only difference
was that my brother,
his shirt was all torn up,
and he was wearing
his white jacket, right?
That was the difference.
But at that moment,
we were very confused.
That's when we realized
that the government
had something prepared,
that they had planted
their own agents
to assassinate
Luis Donaldo Colosio
and wanted to blame
my brother Mario.
LAURA:
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
and Mario Aburto did look alike.
There is
even a section in the report
that overlays the images
one over the other,
and it seems to me
that this could indeed
have contributed
to the confusion.
So, Mario begins, well,
to somewhat believe
this version,
where other people
who looked very similar to him
had indeed been infiltrated
on the day
of Colosio's assassination.
MARIO ABURTO MARTÍNEZ:
Do you remember that I told you
that I had been intimidated
into taking responsibility
for a crime I did not commit?
TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
BETWEEN MARIO AND HIS FATHER
They used another person
who looked like me
when they had him
at the PGR in Tijuana.
JESÚS GONZÁLEZ SCHMAL:
Obviously, Sánchez Ortega
could be
a very interesting element
in the investigation
because he was very close
to the events.
JOSÉ LUIS ABURTO MARTÍNEZ:
We are not afraid
for the truth to be known
because we know
that Mario has been innocent
from the very first moment
they grabbed him.
They are afraid,
and everything comes to light.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
COLOSIO: POLITICAL ASSASSINATION
EPISODE 3
THE SECOND SHOOTER
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
ATAHUALPA GARIBAY REYES:
On the afternoon of March 23rd,
CISEN arranged
TIJUANA REPORTER
an
information-coverage operation
to report on Colosio's events
in Tijuana.
Sánchez Ortega was
in the vehicle assigned to him.
It was a very distinctive
red Volkswagen.
And he was at the wheel,
sharing information
with his other colleagues.
LUIS DONALDO COLOSIO MURRIETA:
the needs of more and better
opportunities for everyone,
but above all,
for those who have the least.
I want to tell you, friends,
that I have come to Tijuana.
-(CROWD CHEERING)
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PROTESTER 1:
Long live Baja California!
PROTESTER 2: Long live Tijuana!
PROTESTER 1:
Long live grassroots organizing!
-(GUNSHOTS FIRING)
-(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
OFFICER: (OVER RADIO) They shot
the candidate in the head.
-(POLICE SIREN WAILING)
-(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
And the governor's order
was that they detain
all the suspects,
especially if they were
federal agents.
And one of the "suspects"
was Sánchez Ortega.
ERNESTO RUFFO APPEL:
The municipal police
detained him
because they saw him
wandering in the vicinity
GOVERNOR OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
a few minutes after
the incident happened
and noticed
he had a strange attitude.
LAURA: This man
was wearing his jacket
completely stained with blood.
It seemed that he was trying
to escape from the area.
What happens is that,
at that moment,
the municipal officer
prevents him from fleeing.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIS
DORA ELENA CORTÉS JUÁREZ:
And when he asked him
why his jacket was stained,
at that moment,
he did not know how to answer.
JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR
OF "EL COMPLOT"
Then he did not
want to identify himself.
XAVIER CARVAJAL MACHADO:
They handcuff him
to the door handle
of the vehicle,
of the door of his Volkswagen,
and from there,
some people
who saw him tied up there
tried to lynch him.
FIRST LAWYER OF MARIO ABURTO
And they give the order for him
to be taken as a detainee.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ERNESTO: Sánchez Ortega's
information is taken,
his fingerprints,
his identification.
It was difficult
because he did not want to say
that he was from
the Ministry of the Interior.
However, he was ultimately
fully identified.
A ballistics test
is performed on him
regarding the rhodizonate,
which reveals whether you have
gunpowder residue on your hands,
and that reveals
whether you operated a weapon.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
RIGHT HAND: POSITIVE
LEFT HAND: POSITIVE
LEFT BACK: POSITIVE
FRANCISCO FRANCO RÍOS:
It was positive on both hands.
It was primary evidence
that had to be strengthened
ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
with other requirements
that we no longer had
the opportunity to carry out.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
DORA ELENA:
The state authorities
decide to formally hand him over
to the Federal Police,
to the Office of the Attorney
General of the Republic,
despite the fact that they
were receiving pressure
to release him.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF THE REPUBLIC
XAVIER: After attending
to Mario Aburto Martínez
and Vicente Mayoral,
they asked me
if I could also assist,
uh, Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega, and
I accepted.
At that time, in 1994,
when the PRI had total control,
it could afford
to have the same lawyer
for all of its detainees.
So, it does not seem
strange to me,
especially given
the modus operandi
of the Institutional
Revolutionary Party
at that time.
It is not illegal,
as long as there
was no conflict of interest
-among those represented.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
In Sánchez Ortega's
ministerial statement
there were only a couple
of Public Prosecutor's
Office agents.
SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA'S LAWYER
And one of them
was the one asking the questions
and it was brief.
He stated that
he was reporting to Mexico City,
and he said that
when the shots were heard,
he observed how the candidate
was mortally wounded
when he was brought in.
ATAHUALPA:
He was 100, 200 meters
from where the attack occurred,
and Sánchez Ortega himself
says that
when he approached to verify
that it was
Luis Donaldo Colosio,
who was going to be transferred
by ambulance,
his jacket
became soaked with blood
from one of the people
who was participating
in the transfer.
(AMBULANCE SIREN WAILING)
XAVIER: I do not recall
that he was armed,
or that he stated
he was carrying a weapon.
(SINISTER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
MINISTERIAL STATEMEN
BY JORGE ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA
THAT HE HAS NOT FIRED
ANY SHOTS WITH A FIREARM
ATAHUALPA:
According to the statements,
CISEN agents
did not carry weapons
and were not authorized
to carry weapons.
DORA ELENA: So, the question is
how it came back positive,
how he had traces of gunpowder
on his hands
if he had not fired.
Sodium rhodizonate lends itself
to several false positives,
when we have contact
with gasoline
CRIMINAL LAWYER
with the gasoline pump
itself,
when we use matches,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
He was able to show
that he had pumped gasoline,
uh, to go cover the rally
at Lomas Taurinas,
even at a nearby gas station.
When the rhodizonate test
is positive on both hands,
it means that the weapon
was held with both hands.
And usually, a person
who does this is someone
who has police or military
knowledge or training.
When one triggers
an explosive device
TIJUANA MUNICIPAL POLICE
gunpowder material
is always expelled,
and that gunpowder adheres
to the skin.
And if it tests positive,
it is positive.
It cannot give a false positive.
Either it is or it isn't.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
DORA ELENA: The stained jacket,
the evasive
and suspicious attitude,
and in addition, the signs
of having fired a firearm,
already made him
a special candidate
to be a suspect.
And he was always protected.
LAURA: They said
that there was no evidence
to keep him imprisoned.
There is talk
of telephone calls from CISEN
for Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
to be released
almost immediately.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
I met Sánchez Ortega
at the end of '93.
I was a reporter covering
political events in Tijuana.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
ATAHUALPA:
We reporters used to talk
to get to know the CISEN agents,
who were the informants or spies
of the Ministry of the Interior.
They went in civilian clothes,
sat like anyone else,
introduced themselves,
they were not hidden spies.
They would say,
"Hello, nice to meet you,
I'm so-and-so, I work at CISEN.
Here's my business card.
Call me
if you have any questions
or want some information."
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
DORA ELENA:
They were always present
at every important event,
even attending interviews
for those arriving
at the airport.
They would also approach
and take down information
about who they were,
when they arrived,
what they came for,
and what they said.
That was CISEN's control.
It was common for them
to use any means
to hide their identity,
including pretending
to be journalists.
ATAHUALPA:
They pretend to be journalists
so that people
won't "make faces at them,"
as we say in Mexico,
so they won't feel, like,
"There are
the government people,
they are listening in,
they are ears."
In Mexico, we call them "ears."
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ERNESTO: Think of it as
the political police of Mexico.
That's what the people
from the Ministry
of the Interior were.
And when I saw them,
I would run them off the stage.
But their task
was to go unnoticed.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
"THE BULLET FOUND IN
LOMAS TAURINAS AND THE ROL
OF SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA,
KEY QUESTIONS
IN THE MURDER OF COLOSIO"
ATAHUALPA:
After the news articles
and reports started coming out,
they removed him
from Baja California
"THERE COULD HAVE BEEN
TWO IDENTICAL WEAPONS"
to cover him because he was
still working for CISEN.
They took him out of the state,
sent him, I think, to La Paz,
Baja California Sur,
and he was away for some time.
LAURA: After the attack
on Luis Donaldo Colosio
THEY REFUSE
TO PROVIDE INFORMATION
ON THE WHEREABOUTS
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
was a ghost.
He seemed like an urban legend
that had been created
in the media.
SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA WAS
TRANSFERRED TO THE PGR
However,
some colleagues in the press
did begin to report
his presence.
For example, during an event
in Saltillo in the year 2008.
But, after that, we no longer
know anything about him.
DORA ELENA: Information from
people close to him indicate
that he was very scared
because there was a lot
for him to clarify.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
How could thousands
of gallons of ink
be wasted to write
about second shooter,
if there was only one shooter?
What I could consider
is that Mario
was part of a group
of certain people who, in a way,
planted that idea in him
to do what he did.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
MARIO: (ON RECORDING)
I let myself be carried away
by the comments of other people
which were well founded,
well put together.
ATAHUALPA: Mario Aburto says
that he used to go to a building
where a political party met.
That was the party
of the American Union.
A party of citizens
from Baja California
who shared the idea
that Baja California
should join the United States.
DORA ELENA:
Doctor Messina is a person
with somewhat strange ideas
DOCTOR AND POLITICAL ACTIVIS
who, in his office
in the downtown area,
puts up some flags and a slogan.
ATAHUALPA:
Ernesto Messina's discourse
was anti-Mexican government,
anti-system.
PEOPLE HAVE
THE RIGHT TO OVERTHROW
THESE ARBITRARY GOVERNMENTS
He categorically denied
having influenced Mario Aburto.
APPLAUDS AND JUSTIFIES
COLOSIO'S CRIME
He denied what we were seeing.
So, there was a decision there
to get rid of this whole problem
because investigators
immediately arrived
to speak with him,
and he realized
that the situation was
becoming complicated for him.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ATAHUALPA: I couldn't say
for sure that Messina
influenced or manipulated him.
What I can consider
is that he met people,
persons who were
anti-government,
anti-PRI, or who were driven
by other kinds of interests.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
MARIO: I have never
been afraid of anything.
I even renounced everything.
My family, my name
And I was decorated
as an Eagle Knight,
the highest of the warriors.
ATAHUALPA: Mario Aburto
sympathized with these ideas
because he even mentions it
in his notebook.
The trunk containing
the belongings
of Mario Aburto Martínez,
which was in the house
in the Buenos Aires
Norte neighborhood,
was secured
by the Tijuana Municipal Police.
They went
to the Aburto home, entered,
and removed the trunk
where the ledger book was
and delivered it to the PGR.
SIGNED BY A SON OF THE FATHER
AND EAGLE KNIGH
JOSÉ LUIS:
That the knight whatever,
that the drawings,
all of that was planned
by the PGR to frame him,
lie, and convince Mexico
that he was the murderer
of Luis Donaldo Colosio,
when he is not.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-(DISTANT DOOR CLOSING)
(DISTANT DOOR LOCKING)
LAURA: It is very difficult
to reach conclusions,
especially in the case
of Mario Aburto,
because from 1994
to the present,
the reality is that the versions
have changed a great deal.
He was a lone assassin.
I say this
because I corroborated it.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
OFFICER: Yes?
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-OFFICER: Attorney
Hey, let's go to Mayoral.
XAVIER: Vicente Mayoral,
when giving
his ministerial statement,
states that
upon hearing the shot,
he turns around
and grabs the weapon
with one of his hands and grabs
the arm with the other hand.
And the Presidential
General Staff guards
fell on top of them.
And it was at that instant when
the second shot was produced
from the weapon he was holding.
Without a doubt,
what Aburto had stated,
15 or 20 minutes earlier,
was exactly the same.
There was no way
they could have arranged that.
To know a testimony is true,
it has to have errors.
PSYCHIATRIST IN THE ABURTO CASE
And I believe
that is what is detected
in Mario's testimony.
But, in broad terms,
the testimony does not change.
When everyone was beating him,
he said that he was not
the murderer.
It wasn't me!
And you can hear him saying,
"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"
JOURNALIST AND NEIGHBOR
OF MARIO ABURTO
None of the people I spoke with
that were close to the team.
I spoke with many
military people, politicians.
JOURNALIST AND WITNESS
OF THE ATTACK
In short,
no one saw Mario Aburto fire.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
DORA ELENA: In no image
does he appear in full.
You see the arm that rises,
and then you see
when they detain him.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
DORA ELENA: But I insist you do
not see the person who fires,
and you do not see
the alleged Mario Aburto.
It is incomprehensible
and that is why I understand
PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
that for many people,
it is very difficult to accept
that a lone assassin
was responsible
for a tragedy of this magnitude.
It is also very hard for me.
But all the evidence
I have seen, all of it,
starting with the confession
of the material perpetrator,
who is still alive
and in prison,
unlike what has happened
with other assassinations
elsewhere.
I have no evidence
that points
in any other direction.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Of those who were present
and could be witnesses,
more than half have died.
MARIO ABURTO'S LAWYER
DORA ELENA: Later, there were
some very strange deaths
related to the crime
of Luis Donaldo Colosio,
people who were linked
in one way or another
to this case, which all happened
in a short period of time.
This included
the delegate of the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
and the person
who found the bullet
that was left forgotten
in Lomas Taurinas.
REPORTER: Around 1:00 p.m.,
former public security director
Federico Benítez
and his bodyguard Ramón Alarid
were shot dead.
They were attacked
by unknown individuals
from another moving vehicle.
Why was Mr. Benítez killed?
Because he knew the truth.
TIJUANA POLICE CHIEF
LAURA: He was the chief
of police there
in Baja California,
who had supposedly
been conducting
his own parallel investigation
into the assassination
of Colosio.
He knew that Mario was innocent.
That is why he was assassinated,
for no other reason.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
It was striking that 16 deaths
occurred in the following years.
How is it possible
that so many key people
in the Colosio case died?
There were people who died
under different circumstances,
natural causes, in accidents,
or in the course of their work.
And it seems to me that a legend
has been generated around this.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA: However, Sánchez Ortega
could indeed resolve
many doubts,
especially because he was
an eyewitness.
Let us remember
that he himself declares
that he was 200 meters
from Luis Donaldo Colosio
in Lomas Taurinas.
(DRAMATIC
THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic reported
that it sought an arrest warrant
against a former agent
of the now-defunct CISEN
and that he would be, in theory,
a second shooter in the murder
of Colosio Murrieta.
NATIONAL PALACE
MEXICO CITY
ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR:
All the investigations
were carried out here,
and it was demonstrated
that there was a second shooter.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
It turned out
that this second individual,
not Aburto
was from CISEN.
The prosecutor's office
asks the judge
to issue the arrest warrant
against Sánchez Ortega
since the theory that eliminates
the lone-assassin hypothesis
is being substantiated.
That is,
that there is a co-conspirator
a second shooter,
who would be the former
national security agent.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA: The reopening
of the case was taking place,
thanks to the testimony
of a woman named Leticia Ortiz,
the star witness
of this reopening.
This woman had allegedly been
an employee of the last place
where Mario Aburto worked,
the Cameros Magnéticos
maquiladora.
Mrs. Leticia Ortiz says
that one afternoon
she realizes that,
outside the maquiladora,
Mario Aburto
appears to make contact
with a man who shared
the same
physical characteristics
as Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega.
According to her, she never
really sees them talking,
but she does see them
exchange a glance
and head off
in the same direction.
A fact that had not
been mentioned
in her first statement,
which was taken
around the time
of the events of 1994.
It seems to me
that the prosecutor's office
interprets this detail
as confirmation
of a relationship
between Mario Aburto
and Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega.
DID MARIO ABURTO AND
SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA KNOW EACH OTHER?
GABRIEL REGINO GARCÍA:
As a result of this pressure,
they naturally go on
to investigate
A CRIME PLANNED IN ADVANCE
who were responsible
for this Center
for Investigation
and National Security
in Baja California.
A new version of the events
begins to be investigated,
which adds
to all the official versions
that existed
between the years 1994 and 2000
from the other
prosecutors' offices.
And this one says
that a very important figure
was involved.
It was Genaro García Luna,
who during the administration
of Felipe Calderón
was Secretary
of Public Security.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
J. JESÚS LEMUS BARAJAS:
Who is Genaro García Luna?
He is the man who embodies
the Mexican political system.
He seems to be
on the side of the people,
it seems that his function
is to uphold the law,
but in reality, the only thing
he is doing is being corrupt
and making deals
with criminals.
MARIO ABURTO'S PRISON MATE
I began to investigate
Genaro García Luna
when I was in prison.
I try to understand who he is
and those answers
are given to me
by many prisoners,
many prisoners
who were his partners.
JOURNALIST AND POLITICAL ANALYS
He went to the prison
where El Chapo was,
and he disappeared
the day he arrived.
The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
remains at large.
Many wonder
how he was able to escape
from the maximum-security prison
in Mexico.
NEWS ANCHOR: To this day
there are still doubts
about the alleged participation
of guards
in the escape
of the criminal leader.
J. JESÚS:
He is taken out of prison
by Genaro García Luna's team,
a group from the Federal
Investigation Agency.
They take him out dressed
as a police officer
and carry him away.
García Luna was the man
who was guarding,
not only guarding
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán,
he took charge of eliminating,
with his forces,
all of El Chapo Guzmán's
competition.
GENARO GARCÍA LUNA
SENTENCED TO 38 YEARS
IN PRISON IN THE U.S.
LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, García Luna
in 1994,
already being
at a certain level,
is when he goes to Tijuana
to rescue the second shooter.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
9 HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF THE REPUBLIC
GABRIEL: At that time,
Genaro García Luna was in charge
of the Subdirectorate
of National Cases of CISEN.
LAURA: And it is he who learns
that one of his agents
is detained
in the facilities of the PGR.
This new version says
that they mobilize
to the city of Tijuana,
where they do
everything possible
to free Sánchez Ortega.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
GABRIEL: In a new statement
by the first person responsible,
who is the figure of
the delegate and his assistant,
they will indeed state
that Genaro García Luna
was in Tijuana.
Why hide this?
It is extremely serious.
(INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The criminal cover-up
in which Genaro G.
was directly involved
is evident.
(GUESTS APPLAUDING)
LAURA: I am not sure
that Genaro García Luna
would have had
the power at that moment.
However,
it would not surprise me
that there had been
some kind of corruption
in the release
of Sánchez Ortega,
because the reality is that
it was a very quick release,
given the circumstances,
that the man
was stained with blood
and had tested positive
for gunpowder residue
on his hand.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
It generated
a lot of speculation
because supposedly it occurred
before the legal period in which
he should have been
at the disposal
of the Public
Prosecutor's Office,
which was 48 hours.
The Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
failed in its attempt
to reopen the Colosio case
after a judge rejected issuing
an arrest warrant
against the former CISEN agent
tasked with covering
the presidential candidate
at the time of the attack
against him.
GABRIEL: The judge concludes
that Genaro García Luna
is not related to the extraction
of Sánchez Ortega
and that Ortiz's statement
is insufficient
to sustain a solid line
of investigation.
LAURA:
But I can tell you that,
for me,
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
was always a loose end.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA: And in the year 2022,
I received a message
through social media.
It was a source,
a person, who tells me
that Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega left the country
and no longer lives in Mexico.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LAURA: The reality
is that I devoted myself
to corroborating this source
and discovered
that he did, in fact,
worked in
the intelligence services
in the United States.
So I begin to pay
closer attention to this lead,
because I said, he knows
exactly Jorge's movements.
He begins to send me
information, for example,
about the facade of the house
where Sánchez Ortega
would supposedly be living.
A facade of a nice
single-story house,
with a gabled roof, pretty.
And little by little, he begins
to reveal to me the information
that he has been gathering
over the years,
through intelligence work.
And he tells me that
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
is living in Havana, Cuba
that he had been there
for several years,
that he had left Mexico
out of fear,
and that he currently lived
in a wealthy neighborhood
in Cuba, very close
to Raúl Castro's house.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA:
It does not surprise me at all
that Jorge
Antonio Sánchez Ortega
was not in Mexico
because I had
received information
from other witnesses
who claim to have
had some relationship
with the Colosio case
and who have begun
to seek asylum.
FORMER OFFICER:
I feel like I'm in danger.
That is why
I want to fix my situation
in the United States
so as not to have
to return to Mexico.
The people I fear
are the people from the PRI,
because, in reality,
that security operation
was organized by them.
They recruited us
to incriminate us,
to confuse everything,
and, perhaps, to hide
the true person responsible.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
MADRID, SPAIN
CARLOS SALINAS DE GORTARI:
I made the decision
to absent myself voluntarily.
The country had changed,
the world had changed.
And those who were accustomed
to the old ways
were unsettled by it,
it made them uncomfortable,
and moreover
it greatly got in their way.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
went into exile
after his brother
was put in jail.
It was part of the pact,
"We are going to keep
your brother well taken care of
in Almoloya, you go over there,
we are not going to go after you
or anyone else
in your government
as long as you keep quiet."
It is not easy.
Mexico is always
present within me,
and will remain present
for the rest of my life.
I was the journalist
with whom Carlos Salinas
broke his silence
while he was in exile.
I did his interview.
CSG DENOUNCES A PLO
IN COLOSIO’S SUCCESSION
And what did he say
in that interview?
Something very important.
"The nomenclature
killed Colosio for me."
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
RAMÓN GARZA: What was
Carlos Salinas referring to?
That the old PRI
had killed him. Why?
Because they were
no longer willing
to be kept in the freezer
for a sixth consecutive term.
They had no room to maneuver.
It is clear that,
in one way or another,
something was plotted here
(INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
but that matter
could never be proven.
MEXICO CITY
JESÚS: Mario Aburto had been
waiting a long time
for the Supreme Court
to be reconstituted again
and to take up his issue,
his case, and rule on it.
30 YEARS AFTER THE MURDER
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER: I beg
Justice Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena
to take charge of the presidency
and occupy this position.
SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE
OF THE NATION
JESÚS: We hope that the vote
will be favorable
for Mario Aburto,
but the Supreme Court
is unpredictable.
If the amparo is not accepted,
he will spend
another 15 years in prison.
If it is accepted,
he is released immediately.
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER:
The identifying data are omitted
as they are
considered sensitive.
The draft decision
proposes, first,
that the challenged judgment
be revoked.
Second, that the proceedings
be reinstated
in the amparo trial
from which the present motion
for review derives,
for the legal effects specified
in this ruling.
-Take the vote, please.
-Madam Justice Ortiz.
In favor.
-Mr. Justice González
Alcántara Carrancá.
-In favor.
-Madam Justice Ríos Farjat.
-Against.
One of the justices said
that it was necessary to notify
the children of Luis Donaldo
as to whether
they had an interest or not
because they were not called
to intervene
in the amparo trial.
So, they sent
that amparo ruling back
to the Superior Court
of Justice,
which interrupted
the entire process,
to the detriment
of Mario Aburto.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
COLOSIO CASE 23 OCTOBER 2024
SUPREME COURT ORDERS
MARIO ABURTO
TO REMAIN IN PRISON
JOSÉ LUIS: They are shelving it
and continuing and continuing
and continuing
for political purposes.
Mario is being used
merely for the benefits
of the dirty politics they have.
What is going to happen
and how is this going to end?
We cannot even predict it yet.
It is impossible to say
whether it will be in two,
three, five months,
a year, or two.
That is the truth.
They knew beforehand
that Mario was innocent.
And they do not
want to accept it
because they have
to have someone
to present to the Mexican people
and to the world
as the one
who assassinated Colosio.
-I still have mixed feelings.
-(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Perhaps, I have not
fully forgiven him.
Why? Because he took
my brother from me.
COLOSIO'S SISTER
Because he stole the life
of a decent man,
a good man, a clean politician,
a politician who had a straight,
upright career path,
who was going to do good
for his people.
(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
It was an absurd,
violent, cruel death.
An assassin was locked up
but is the family satisfied?
Well, no.
My father always said it.
We never believed
in the lone-assassin version.
LUIS COLOSIO FERNÁNDEZ: I share,
along with millions of Mexicans,
the thesis that there is
no lone assassin
COLOSIO'S FATHER
that the crime
was a plot derived
from the struggle for power.
(INTENSE THEME
MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
In Tijuana, the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic detained,
31 years later,
an agent
of the now-defunct CISEN,
identified as the alleged
second shooter
in the case
of Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994.
LAURA: I was very surprised
by the arrest
of Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega.
I learned about this arrest
over the weekend in the morning.
The news had begun
to circulate since dawn
FORMER CISEN AGENT ARRESTED
IN CONNECTION WITH COLOSIO CASE
and a great many people
began sending it to me,
knowing that I have
been investigating
the Colosio case for many years.
THE COLOSIO CASE IS REVIVED
What began circulating
in the media
was the transfer record
from the National Security
Secretariat in Mexico,
which stated that Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega
had been detained
in the Los Reyes neighborhood
over in the eastern part
of Tijuana.
We learned some details,
such as that
he was 64 years old,
that he was retired,
that he had a pension of 25,000,
which was quite high
for being part of CISEN.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
GABRIEL: The judge who had
ruled to deny the arrest warrant
was reassigned,
and a new one arrived
who had to rule immediately.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRISON SENTENCE AGAINS
JORGE ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA
GABRIEL: Sánchez Ortega
was detained less than 24 hours
after the arrest warrant
was issued.
That speed implies
that he was
under close surveillance
by agents of the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
who were only waiting
to have the mandate
to proceed with his capture.
It seems very difficult, for me,
to understand that,
31 years after the assassination
and after all possible
conspiracy theories
were discarded,
we would now have
a man in prison,
in a maximum-security prison,
as if it were 1994.
A man whom all the prosecutors'
offices had concluded
that there was not sufficient
evidence to incarcerate.
Now, the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
substantially modified
its strategy.
We are going to present
the expert reports
that establish
that there had to have been
a second shooter.
Now, they say
that the turn did not exist.
OFFICIAL RECREATION
According
to the prosecutor's hypothesis,
Sánchez Ortega would have
been on his left
in order to have carried out
the second shot.
LAURA: However, Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega
still does not
appear in the videos
or in the images from the day
of the assassination.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
LAURA: But now the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
has a justification
that I truly cannot understand
how a judge accepts.
They say that Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega
was probably so close
and leaning forward
that that is why
he cannot be seen in the video,
because he was crouched down.
TACTICAL TRAINING
AND PREPARATION MAY INFLUENCE
They also say that probably
all of his experience
as a CISEN agent
was what allowed him
to slip away
among the entire crowd
and within that bustle
of people.
His first statement
before the judge is given
while he is deprived
of his liberty.
He did not want
to declare absolutely anything,
he reserved the right
to remain silent.
For Sánchez Ortega,
prosecutors could have asked
about his participation
in the events,
where he was, what he saw, etc.
But instead,
they begin to ask him
about the chain of command.
For example, they ask him things
such as whether
he knew Tello Peón,
who was the director of CISEN,
whether he had seen him
at any time,
for example,
in Tijuana, Baja California.
GABRIEL:
Who else do they ask him about?
About the favorite villain,
Genaro García Luna.
WHILE YOU WERE IN DETENTION,
DID YOU EVER SEE
ENGINEER GENARO GARCÍA LUNA?
These kinds of questions
allow us to infer
that this construction
of the case
against Sánchez Ortega
may have
a greater political intention.
(INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
SALINAS DE GOTARI: In politics,
there are no coincidences.
In this instance,
there are too many
for it not to suggest
that too many interests,
uh, converged to cut short
a great life,
derail a project, and put
an end to a peace process.
LAURA: I believe
that the Colosio case
is a crime of State,
not because Carlos Salinas
de Gortari ordered
Mario Aburto to kill Colosio,
or because it was done
by some other figure
in Mexican politics
at that time.
I believe it becomes
a crime of State
when you investigate poorly,
when you violate human rights,
when people unrelated
to the assassination
are sexually abused,
and when, above all,
a historical truth
is constructed
that omits important passages
that would link other
important figures to the case.
It is here where I believe
in the crime of State
and in the construction
from the State to tell the story
in whatever way best suits them.
From the failed
initial investigation
to the recent reopening
of the case,
everyone has made
political use of it.
ERNESTO ZEDILLO PONCE DE LEÓN:
Yesterday we culminated
with the triumph of a campaign
initiated under the leadership
of Luis Donaldo Colosio.
ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO:
Today marks 66 years
since the birth
of a distinguished son
of Sonora and a great Mexican,
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta.
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM PARDO:
I believe that the Colosio case
is a matter of State.
Having found the second shooter,
it is important
that it be clarified.
There is a breaking point before
and after
the assassination of Colosio.
This country changed radically
in every respect.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
RAMÓN: The balances
of power were disrupted.
When a bullet enters democracy,
democracy no longer exists.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
What exists are interests,
and today what we are living
is the hangover.
They meddled with the country's
political situation so much
that it slipped out
of our hands.
Talking with you
I feel at peace,
but I can also tell you
that I feel anger again.
I feel indignation again.
And if we are asked
what we would want, well,
that real justice be done
for Luis Donaldo.
LAURA: For me,
there is a super-impactful scene
that has affected me
all these years,
and it is that
the Lomas Taurinas neighborhood
remains abandoned,
quite abandoned.
It is only swept
and cleaned every March 23,
when PRI politicians
can go take a photo
and profit from the image
and the memory
of Luis Donaldo Colosio.
PLAZA OF UNITY AND HOPE
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
LUIS DONALDO COLOSIO WAS
ASSASSINATED AT THE AGE OF 44.
HIS WIFE, DIANA LAURA RIOJAS,
DIED EIGHT MONTHS LATER.
THE COUPLE LEFT TWO CHILDREN:
LUIS DONALDO,
NOW DEDICATED TO POLITICS,
AND MARIANA, WHO HAS
STAYED AWAY FROM PUBLIC LIFE.
MARIO ABURTO MARTÍNEZ
IS THE ONLY PERSON
CONVICTED FOR THE ASSASSINATION.
HE REMAINS IN A MAXIMUM-SECURITY
PRISON IN GUANAJUATO.
IF HIS LEGAL APPEALS
ARE REJECTED,
HE COULD OBTAIN HIS RELEASE
IN 2039 AT THE AGE OF 68.
AT THE CONCLUSION
OF THIS DOCUMENTARY,
JORGE ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA
REMAINS HELD
IN THE MAXIMUM-SECURITY PRISON
OF EL ALTIPLANO.
IF CONVICTED AS A CO-PERPETRATOR
OF THE ASSASSINATION,
HE WOULD FACE A SENTENCE OF
BETWEEN 40 AND 50 YEARS
STATEMENTS MADE BY PARTICIPANTS
DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS
OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY
OR DISTRIBUTORS
(CLOSING
THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-(POLICE SIREN WAILING)
DAY OF THE ATTACK
LAURA SÁNCHEZ LEY: On March 23,
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega,
who was allegedly
an agent of CISEN,
had been transferred
to the facilities of the PGR.
They believed that he had gotten
very close to the candidate
and had fired the second shot
into his stomach.
When he's admitted
to the PGR facilities,
he sees Mario Aburto in a cell
on the right-hand side.
I walked by there
with the people
who were going to torture me,
with the federal agents.
MARIO ABURTO'S BROTHER
And one of the agents
says to him,
"And what are you doing here?"
"Well, they brought me
because I have
Colosio's blood on me."
Sánchez Ortega.
I kept staring and felt
like running to hug him.
I thought he was my brother.
He had the same haircut.
Everything was the same.
The only difference
was that my brother,
his shirt was all torn up,
and he was wearing
his white jacket, right?
That was the difference.
But at that moment,
we were very confused.
That's when we realized
that the government
had something prepared,
that they had planted
their own agents
to assassinate
Luis Donaldo Colosio
and wanted to blame
my brother Mario.
LAURA:
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
and Mario Aburto did look alike.
There is
even a section in the report
that overlays the images
one over the other,
and it seems to me
that this could indeed
have contributed
to the confusion.
So, Mario begins, well,
to somewhat believe
this version,
where other people
who looked very similar to him
had indeed been infiltrated
on the day
of Colosio's assassination.
MARIO ABURTO MARTÍNEZ:
Do you remember that I told you
that I had been intimidated
into taking responsibility
for a crime I did not commit?
TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
BETWEEN MARIO AND HIS FATHER
They used another person
who looked like me
when they had him
at the PGR in Tijuana.
JESÚS GONZÁLEZ SCHMAL:
Obviously, Sánchez Ortega
could be
a very interesting element
in the investigation
because he was very close
to the events.
JOSÉ LUIS ABURTO MARTÍNEZ:
We are not afraid
for the truth to be known
because we know
that Mario has been innocent
from the very first moment
they grabbed him.
They are afraid,
and everything comes to light.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
COLOSIO: POLITICAL ASSASSINATION
EPISODE 3
THE SECOND SHOOTER
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
ATAHUALPA GARIBAY REYES:
On the afternoon of March 23rd,
CISEN arranged
TIJUANA REPORTER
an
information-coverage operation
to report on Colosio's events
in Tijuana.
Sánchez Ortega was
in the vehicle assigned to him.
It was a very distinctive
red Volkswagen.
And he was at the wheel,
sharing information
with his other colleagues.
LUIS DONALDO COLOSIO MURRIETA:
the needs of more and better
opportunities for everyone,
but above all,
for those who have the least.
I want to tell you, friends,
that I have come to Tijuana.
-(CROWD CHEERING)
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PROTESTER 1:
Long live Baja California!
PROTESTER 2: Long live Tijuana!
PROTESTER 1:
Long live grassroots organizing!
-(GUNSHOTS FIRING)
-(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
OFFICER: (OVER RADIO) They shot
the candidate in the head.
-(POLICE SIREN WAILING)
-(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
And the governor's order
was that they detain
all the suspects,
especially if they were
federal agents.
And one of the "suspects"
was Sánchez Ortega.
ERNESTO RUFFO APPEL:
The municipal police
detained him
because they saw him
wandering in the vicinity
GOVERNOR OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
a few minutes after
the incident happened
and noticed
he had a strange attitude.
LAURA: This man
was wearing his jacket
completely stained with blood.
It seemed that he was trying
to escape from the area.
What happens is that,
at that moment,
the municipal officer
prevents him from fleeing.
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIS
DORA ELENA CORTÉS JUÁREZ:
And when he asked him
why his jacket was stained,
at that moment,
he did not know how to answer.
JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR
OF "EL COMPLOT"
Then he did not
want to identify himself.
XAVIER CARVAJAL MACHADO:
They handcuff him
to the door handle
of the vehicle,
of the door of his Volkswagen,
and from there,
some people
who saw him tied up there
tried to lynch him.
FIRST LAWYER OF MARIO ABURTO
And they give the order for him
to be taken as a detainee.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ERNESTO: Sánchez Ortega's
information is taken,
his fingerprints,
his identification.
It was difficult
because he did not want to say
that he was from
the Ministry of the Interior.
However, he was ultimately
fully identified.
A ballistics test
is performed on him
regarding the rhodizonate,
which reveals whether you have
gunpowder residue on your hands,
and that reveals
whether you operated a weapon.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
RIGHT HAND: POSITIVE
LEFT HAND: POSITIVE
LEFT BACK: POSITIVE
FRANCISCO FRANCO RÍOS:
It was positive on both hands.
It was primary evidence
that had to be strengthened
ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
with other requirements
that we no longer had
the opportunity to carry out.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
DORA ELENA:
The state authorities
decide to formally hand him over
to the Federal Police,
to the Office of the Attorney
General of the Republic,
despite the fact that they
were receiving pressure
to release him.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF THE REPUBLIC
XAVIER: After attending
to Mario Aburto Martínez
and Vicente Mayoral,
they asked me
if I could also assist,
uh, Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega, and
I accepted.
At that time, in 1994,
when the PRI had total control,
it could afford
to have the same lawyer
for all of its detainees.
So, it does not seem
strange to me,
especially given
the modus operandi
of the Institutional
Revolutionary Party
at that time.
It is not illegal,
as long as there
was no conflict of interest
-among those represented.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
In Sánchez Ortega's
ministerial statement
there were only a couple
of Public Prosecutor's
Office agents.
SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA'S LAWYER
And one of them
was the one asking the questions
and it was brief.
He stated that
he was reporting to Mexico City,
and he said that
when the shots were heard,
he observed how the candidate
was mortally wounded
when he was brought in.
ATAHUALPA:
He was 100, 200 meters
from where the attack occurred,
and Sánchez Ortega himself
says that
when he approached to verify
that it was
Luis Donaldo Colosio,
who was going to be transferred
by ambulance,
his jacket
became soaked with blood
from one of the people
who was participating
in the transfer.
(AMBULANCE SIREN WAILING)
XAVIER: I do not recall
that he was armed,
or that he stated
he was carrying a weapon.
(SINISTER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
MINISTERIAL STATEMEN
BY JORGE ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA
THAT HE HAS NOT FIRED
ANY SHOTS WITH A FIREARM
ATAHUALPA:
According to the statements,
CISEN agents
did not carry weapons
and were not authorized
to carry weapons.
DORA ELENA: So, the question is
how it came back positive,
how he had traces of gunpowder
on his hands
if he had not fired.
Sodium rhodizonate lends itself
to several false positives,
when we have contact
with gasoline
CRIMINAL LAWYER
with the gasoline pump
itself,
when we use matches,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
He was able to show
that he had pumped gasoline,
uh, to go cover the rally
at Lomas Taurinas,
even at a nearby gas station.
When the rhodizonate test
is positive on both hands,
it means that the weapon
was held with both hands.
And usually, a person
who does this is someone
who has police or military
knowledge or training.
When one triggers
an explosive device
TIJUANA MUNICIPAL POLICE
gunpowder material
is always expelled,
and that gunpowder adheres
to the skin.
And if it tests positive,
it is positive.
It cannot give a false positive.
Either it is or it isn't.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
DORA ELENA: The stained jacket,
the evasive
and suspicious attitude,
and in addition, the signs
of having fired a firearm,
already made him
a special candidate
to be a suspect.
And he was always protected.
LAURA: They said
that there was no evidence
to keep him imprisoned.
There is talk
of telephone calls from CISEN
for Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
to be released
almost immediately.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
I met Sánchez Ortega
at the end of '93.
I was a reporter covering
political events in Tijuana.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
ATAHUALPA:
We reporters used to talk
to get to know the CISEN agents,
who were the informants or spies
of the Ministry of the Interior.
They went in civilian clothes,
sat like anyone else,
introduced themselves,
they were not hidden spies.
They would say,
"Hello, nice to meet you,
I'm so-and-so, I work at CISEN.
Here's my business card.
Call me
if you have any questions
or want some information."
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
DORA ELENA:
They were always present
at every important event,
even attending interviews
for those arriving
at the airport.
They would also approach
and take down information
about who they were,
when they arrived,
what they came for,
and what they said.
That was CISEN's control.
It was common for them
to use any means
to hide their identity,
including pretending
to be journalists.
ATAHUALPA:
They pretend to be journalists
so that people
won't "make faces at them,"
as we say in Mexico,
so they won't feel, like,
"There are
the government people,
they are listening in,
they are ears."
In Mexico, we call them "ears."
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ERNESTO: Think of it as
the political police of Mexico.
That's what the people
from the Ministry
of the Interior were.
And when I saw them,
I would run them off the stage.
But their task
was to go unnoticed.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
"THE BULLET FOUND IN
LOMAS TAURINAS AND THE ROL
OF SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA,
KEY QUESTIONS
IN THE MURDER OF COLOSIO"
ATAHUALPA:
After the news articles
and reports started coming out,
they removed him
from Baja California
"THERE COULD HAVE BEEN
TWO IDENTICAL WEAPONS"
to cover him because he was
still working for CISEN.
They took him out of the state,
sent him, I think, to La Paz,
Baja California Sur,
and he was away for some time.
LAURA: After the attack
on Luis Donaldo Colosio
THEY REFUSE
TO PROVIDE INFORMATION
ON THE WHEREABOUTS
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
was a ghost.
He seemed like an urban legend
that had been created
in the media.
SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA WAS
TRANSFERRED TO THE PGR
However,
some colleagues in the press
did begin to report
his presence.
For example, during an event
in Saltillo in the year 2008.
But, after that, we no longer
know anything about him.
DORA ELENA: Information from
people close to him indicate
that he was very scared
because there was a lot
for him to clarify.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
How could thousands
of gallons of ink
be wasted to write
about second shooter,
if there was only one shooter?
What I could consider
is that Mario
was part of a group
of certain people who, in a way,
planted that idea in him
to do what he did.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
MARIO: (ON RECORDING)
I let myself be carried away
by the comments of other people
which were well founded,
well put together.
ATAHUALPA: Mario Aburto says
that he used to go to a building
where a political party met.
That was the party
of the American Union.
A party of citizens
from Baja California
who shared the idea
that Baja California
should join the United States.
DORA ELENA:
Doctor Messina is a person
with somewhat strange ideas
DOCTOR AND POLITICAL ACTIVIS
who, in his office
in the downtown area,
puts up some flags and a slogan.
ATAHUALPA:
Ernesto Messina's discourse
was anti-Mexican government,
anti-system.
PEOPLE HAVE
THE RIGHT TO OVERTHROW
THESE ARBITRARY GOVERNMENTS
He categorically denied
having influenced Mario Aburto.
APPLAUDS AND JUSTIFIES
COLOSIO'S CRIME
He denied what we were seeing.
So, there was a decision there
to get rid of this whole problem
because investigators
immediately arrived
to speak with him,
and he realized
that the situation was
becoming complicated for him.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
ATAHUALPA: I couldn't say
for sure that Messina
influenced or manipulated him.
What I can consider
is that he met people,
persons who were
anti-government,
anti-PRI, or who were driven
by other kinds of interests.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
MARIO: I have never
been afraid of anything.
I even renounced everything.
My family, my name
And I was decorated
as an Eagle Knight,
the highest of the warriors.
ATAHUALPA: Mario Aburto
sympathized with these ideas
because he even mentions it
in his notebook.
The trunk containing
the belongings
of Mario Aburto Martínez,
which was in the house
in the Buenos Aires
Norte neighborhood,
was secured
by the Tijuana Municipal Police.
They went
to the Aburto home, entered,
and removed the trunk
where the ledger book was
and delivered it to the PGR.
SIGNED BY A SON OF THE FATHER
AND EAGLE KNIGH
JOSÉ LUIS:
That the knight whatever,
that the drawings,
all of that was planned
by the PGR to frame him,
lie, and convince Mexico
that he was the murderer
of Luis Donaldo Colosio,
when he is not.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-(DISTANT DOOR CLOSING)
(DISTANT DOOR LOCKING)
LAURA: It is very difficult
to reach conclusions,
especially in the case
of Mario Aburto,
because from 1994
to the present,
the reality is that the versions
have changed a great deal.
He was a lone assassin.
I say this
because I corroborated it.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
OFFICER: Yes?
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-OFFICER: Attorney
Hey, let's go to Mayoral.
XAVIER: Vicente Mayoral,
when giving
his ministerial statement,
states that
upon hearing the shot,
he turns around
and grabs the weapon
with one of his hands and grabs
the arm with the other hand.
And the Presidential
General Staff guards
fell on top of them.
And it was at that instant when
the second shot was produced
from the weapon he was holding.
Without a doubt,
what Aburto had stated,
15 or 20 minutes earlier,
was exactly the same.
There was no way
they could have arranged that.
To know a testimony is true,
it has to have errors.
PSYCHIATRIST IN THE ABURTO CASE
And I believe
that is what is detected
in Mario's testimony.
But, in broad terms,
the testimony does not change.
When everyone was beating him,
he said that he was not
the murderer.
It wasn't me!
And you can hear him saying,
"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"
JOURNALIST AND NEIGHBOR
OF MARIO ABURTO
None of the people I spoke with
that were close to the team.
I spoke with many
military people, politicians.
JOURNALIST AND WITNESS
OF THE ATTACK
In short,
no one saw Mario Aburto fire.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
DORA ELENA: In no image
does he appear in full.
You see the arm that rises,
and then you see
when they detain him.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
DORA ELENA: But I insist you do
not see the person who fires,
and you do not see
the alleged Mario Aburto.
It is incomprehensible
and that is why I understand
PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
that for many people,
it is very difficult to accept
that a lone assassin
was responsible
for a tragedy of this magnitude.
It is also very hard for me.
But all the evidence
I have seen, all of it,
starting with the confession
of the material perpetrator,
who is still alive
and in prison,
unlike what has happened
with other assassinations
elsewhere.
I have no evidence
that points
in any other direction.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Of those who were present
and could be witnesses,
more than half have died.
MARIO ABURTO'S LAWYER
DORA ELENA: Later, there were
some very strange deaths
related to the crime
of Luis Donaldo Colosio,
people who were linked
in one way or another
to this case, which all happened
in a short period of time.
This included
the delegate of the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
and the person
who found the bullet
that was left forgotten
in Lomas Taurinas.
REPORTER: Around 1:00 p.m.,
former public security director
Federico Benítez
and his bodyguard Ramón Alarid
were shot dead.
They were attacked
by unknown individuals
from another moving vehicle.
Why was Mr. Benítez killed?
Because he knew the truth.
TIJUANA POLICE CHIEF
LAURA: He was the chief
of police there
in Baja California,
who had supposedly
been conducting
his own parallel investigation
into the assassination
of Colosio.
He knew that Mario was innocent.
That is why he was assassinated,
for no other reason.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
It was striking that 16 deaths
occurred in the following years.
How is it possible
that so many key people
in the Colosio case died?
There were people who died
under different circumstances,
natural causes, in accidents,
or in the course of their work.
And it seems to me that a legend
has been generated around this.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA: However, Sánchez Ortega
could indeed resolve
many doubts,
especially because he was
an eyewitness.
Let us remember
that he himself declares
that he was 200 meters
from Luis Donaldo Colosio
in Lomas Taurinas.
(DRAMATIC
THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic reported
that it sought an arrest warrant
against a former agent
of the now-defunct CISEN
and that he would be, in theory,
a second shooter in the murder
of Colosio Murrieta.
NATIONAL PALACE
MEXICO CITY
ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR:
All the investigations
were carried out here,
and it was demonstrated
that there was a second shooter.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
It turned out
that this second individual,
not Aburto
was from CISEN.
The prosecutor's office
asks the judge
to issue the arrest warrant
against Sánchez Ortega
since the theory that eliminates
the lone-assassin hypothesis
is being substantiated.
That is,
that there is a co-conspirator
a second shooter,
who would be the former
national security agent.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA: The reopening
of the case was taking place,
thanks to the testimony
of a woman named Leticia Ortiz,
the star witness
of this reopening.
This woman had allegedly been
an employee of the last place
where Mario Aburto worked,
the Cameros Magnéticos
maquiladora.
Mrs. Leticia Ortiz says
that one afternoon
she realizes that,
outside the maquiladora,
Mario Aburto
appears to make contact
with a man who shared
the same
physical characteristics
as Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega.
According to her, she never
really sees them talking,
but she does see them
exchange a glance
and head off
in the same direction.
A fact that had not
been mentioned
in her first statement,
which was taken
around the time
of the events of 1994.
It seems to me
that the prosecutor's office
interprets this detail
as confirmation
of a relationship
between Mario Aburto
and Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega.
DID MARIO ABURTO AND
SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA KNOW EACH OTHER?
GABRIEL REGINO GARCÍA:
As a result of this pressure,
they naturally go on
to investigate
A CRIME PLANNED IN ADVANCE
who were responsible
for this Center
for Investigation
and National Security
in Baja California.
A new version of the events
begins to be investigated,
which adds
to all the official versions
that existed
between the years 1994 and 2000
from the other
prosecutors' offices.
And this one says
that a very important figure
was involved.
It was Genaro García Luna,
who during the administration
of Felipe Calderón
was Secretary
of Public Security.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
J. JESÚS LEMUS BARAJAS:
Who is Genaro García Luna?
He is the man who embodies
the Mexican political system.
He seems to be
on the side of the people,
it seems that his function
is to uphold the law,
but in reality, the only thing
he is doing is being corrupt
and making deals
with criminals.
MARIO ABURTO'S PRISON MATE
I began to investigate
Genaro García Luna
when I was in prison.
I try to understand who he is
and those answers
are given to me
by many prisoners,
many prisoners
who were his partners.
JOURNALIST AND POLITICAL ANALYS
He went to the prison
where El Chapo was,
and he disappeared
the day he arrived.
The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel
remains at large.
Many wonder
how he was able to escape
from the maximum-security prison
in Mexico.
NEWS ANCHOR: To this day
there are still doubts
about the alleged participation
of guards
in the escape
of the criminal leader.
J. JESÚS:
He is taken out of prison
by Genaro García Luna's team,
a group from the Federal
Investigation Agency.
They take him out dressed
as a police officer
and carry him away.
García Luna was the man
who was guarding,
not only guarding
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán,
he took charge of eliminating,
with his forces,
all of El Chapo Guzmán's
competition.
GENARO GARCÍA LUNA
SENTENCED TO 38 YEARS
IN PRISON IN THE U.S.
LÓPEZ OBRADOR: Well, García Luna
in 1994,
already being
at a certain level,
is when he goes to Tijuana
to rescue the second shooter.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
9 HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF THE REPUBLIC
GABRIEL: At that time,
Genaro García Luna was in charge
of the Subdirectorate
of National Cases of CISEN.
LAURA: And it is he who learns
that one of his agents
is detained
in the facilities of the PGR.
This new version says
that they mobilize
to the city of Tijuana,
where they do
everything possible
to free Sánchez Ortega.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
GABRIEL: In a new statement
by the first person responsible,
who is the figure of
the delegate and his assistant,
they will indeed state
that Genaro García Luna
was in Tijuana.
Why hide this?
It is extremely serious.
(INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The criminal cover-up
in which Genaro G.
was directly involved
is evident.
(GUESTS APPLAUDING)
LAURA: I am not sure
that Genaro García Luna
would have had
the power at that moment.
However,
it would not surprise me
that there had been
some kind of corruption
in the release
of Sánchez Ortega,
because the reality is that
it was a very quick release,
given the circumstances,
that the man
was stained with blood
and had tested positive
for gunpowder residue
on his hand.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
It generated
a lot of speculation
because supposedly it occurred
before the legal period in which
he should have been
at the disposal
of the Public
Prosecutor's Office,
which was 48 hours.
The Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
failed in its attempt
to reopen the Colosio case
after a judge rejected issuing
an arrest warrant
against the former CISEN agent
tasked with covering
the presidential candidate
at the time of the attack
against him.
GABRIEL: The judge concludes
that Genaro García Luna
is not related to the extraction
of Sánchez Ortega
and that Ortiz's statement
is insufficient
to sustain a solid line
of investigation.
LAURA:
But I can tell you that,
for me,
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
was always a loose end.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA: And in the year 2022,
I received a message
through social media.
It was a source,
a person, who tells me
that Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega left the country
and no longer lives in Mexico.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LAURA: The reality
is that I devoted myself
to corroborating this source
and discovered
that he did, in fact,
worked in
the intelligence services
in the United States.
So I begin to pay
closer attention to this lead,
because I said, he knows
exactly Jorge's movements.
He begins to send me
information, for example,
about the facade of the house
where Sánchez Ortega
would supposedly be living.
A facade of a nice
single-story house,
with a gabled roof, pretty.
And little by little, he begins
to reveal to me the information
that he has been gathering
over the years,
through intelligence work.
And he tells me that
Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega
is living in Havana, Cuba
that he had been there
for several years,
that he had left Mexico
out of fear,
and that he currently lived
in a wealthy neighborhood
in Cuba, very close
to Raúl Castro's house.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURA:
It does not surprise me at all
that Jorge
Antonio Sánchez Ortega
was not in Mexico
because I had
received information
from other witnesses
who claim to have
had some relationship
with the Colosio case
and who have begun
to seek asylum.
FORMER OFFICER:
I feel like I'm in danger.
That is why
I want to fix my situation
in the United States
so as not to have
to return to Mexico.
The people I fear
are the people from the PRI,
because, in reality,
that security operation
was organized by them.
They recruited us
to incriminate us,
to confuse everything,
and, perhaps, to hide
the true person responsible.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
MADRID, SPAIN
CARLOS SALINAS DE GORTARI:
I made the decision
to absent myself voluntarily.
The country had changed,
the world had changed.
And those who were accustomed
to the old ways
were unsettled by it,
it made them uncomfortable,
and moreover
it greatly got in their way.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari
went into exile
after his brother
was put in jail.
It was part of the pact,
"We are going to keep
your brother well taken care of
in Almoloya, you go over there,
we are not going to go after you
or anyone else
in your government
as long as you keep quiet."
It is not easy.
Mexico is always
present within me,
and will remain present
for the rest of my life.
I was the journalist
with whom Carlos Salinas
broke his silence
while he was in exile.
I did his interview.
CSG DENOUNCES A PLO
IN COLOSIO’S SUCCESSION
And what did he say
in that interview?
Something very important.
"The nomenclature
killed Colosio for me."
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
RAMÓN GARZA: What was
Carlos Salinas referring to?
That the old PRI
had killed him. Why?
Because they were
no longer willing
to be kept in the freezer
for a sixth consecutive term.
They had no room to maneuver.
It is clear that,
in one way or another,
something was plotted here
(INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
but that matter
could never be proven.
MEXICO CITY
JESÚS: Mario Aburto had been
waiting a long time
for the Supreme Court
to be reconstituted again
and to take up his issue,
his case, and rule on it.
30 YEARS AFTER THE MURDER
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER: I beg
Justice Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena
to take charge of the presidency
and occupy this position.
SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE
OF THE NATION
JESÚS: We hope that the vote
will be favorable
for Mario Aburto,
but the Supreme Court
is unpredictable.
If the amparo is not accepted,
he will spend
another 15 years in prison.
If it is accepted,
he is released immediately.
PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER:
The identifying data are omitted
as they are
considered sensitive.
The draft decision
proposes, first,
that the challenged judgment
be revoked.
Second, that the proceedings
be reinstated
in the amparo trial
from which the present motion
for review derives,
for the legal effects specified
in this ruling.
-Take the vote, please.
-Madam Justice Ortiz.
In favor.
-Mr. Justice González
Alcántara Carrancá.
-In favor.
-Madam Justice Ríos Farjat.
-Against.
One of the justices said
that it was necessary to notify
the children of Luis Donaldo
as to whether
they had an interest or not
because they were not called
to intervene
in the amparo trial.
So, they sent
that amparo ruling back
to the Superior Court
of Justice,
which interrupted
the entire process,
to the detriment
of Mario Aburto.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
COLOSIO CASE 23 OCTOBER 2024
SUPREME COURT ORDERS
MARIO ABURTO
TO REMAIN IN PRISON
JOSÉ LUIS: They are shelving it
and continuing and continuing
and continuing
for political purposes.
Mario is being used
merely for the benefits
of the dirty politics they have.
What is going to happen
and how is this going to end?
We cannot even predict it yet.
It is impossible to say
whether it will be in two,
three, five months,
a year, or two.
That is the truth.
They knew beforehand
that Mario was innocent.
And they do not
want to accept it
because they have
to have someone
to present to the Mexican people
and to the world
as the one
who assassinated Colosio.
-I still have mixed feelings.
-(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Perhaps, I have not
fully forgiven him.
Why? Because he took
my brother from me.
COLOSIO'S SISTER
Because he stole the life
of a decent man,
a good man, a clean politician,
a politician who had a straight,
upright career path,
who was going to do good
for his people.
(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
It was an absurd,
violent, cruel death.
An assassin was locked up
but is the family satisfied?
Well, no.
My father always said it.
We never believed
in the lone-assassin version.
LUIS COLOSIO FERNÁNDEZ: I share,
along with millions of Mexicans,
the thesis that there is
no lone assassin
COLOSIO'S FATHER
that the crime
was a plot derived
from the struggle for power.
(INTENSE THEME
MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
In Tijuana, the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic detained,
31 years later,
an agent
of the now-defunct CISEN,
identified as the alleged
second shooter
in the case
of Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994.
LAURA: I was very surprised
by the arrest
of Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega.
I learned about this arrest
over the weekend in the morning.
The news had begun
to circulate since dawn
FORMER CISEN AGENT ARRESTED
IN CONNECTION WITH COLOSIO CASE
and a great many people
began sending it to me,
knowing that I have
been investigating
the Colosio case for many years.
THE COLOSIO CASE IS REVIVED
What began circulating
in the media
was the transfer record
from the National Security
Secretariat in Mexico,
which stated that Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega
had been detained
in the Los Reyes neighborhood
over in the eastern part
of Tijuana.
We learned some details,
such as that
he was 64 years old,
that he was retired,
that he had a pension of 25,000,
which was quite high
for being part of CISEN.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
GABRIEL: The judge who had
ruled to deny the arrest warrant
was reassigned,
and a new one arrived
who had to rule immediately.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRISON SENTENCE AGAINS
JORGE ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA
GABRIEL: Sánchez Ortega
was detained less than 24 hours
after the arrest warrant
was issued.
That speed implies
that he was
under close surveillance
by agents of the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
who were only waiting
to have the mandate
to proceed with his capture.
It seems very difficult, for me,
to understand that,
31 years after the assassination
and after all possible
conspiracy theories
were discarded,
we would now have
a man in prison,
in a maximum-security prison,
as if it were 1994.
A man whom all the prosecutors'
offices had concluded
that there was not sufficient
evidence to incarcerate.
Now, the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
substantially modified
its strategy.
We are going to present
the expert reports
that establish
that there had to have been
a second shooter.
Now, they say
that the turn did not exist.
OFFICIAL RECREATION
According
to the prosecutor's hypothesis,
Sánchez Ortega would have
been on his left
in order to have carried out
the second shot.
LAURA: However, Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega
still does not
appear in the videos
or in the images from the day
of the assassination.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
LAURA: But now the Office
of the Attorney General
of the Republic
has a justification
that I truly cannot understand
how a judge accepts.
They say that Jorge Antonio
Sánchez Ortega
was probably so close
and leaning forward
that that is why
he cannot be seen in the video,
because he was crouched down.
TACTICAL TRAINING
AND PREPARATION MAY INFLUENCE
They also say that probably
all of his experience
as a CISEN agent
was what allowed him
to slip away
among the entire crowd
and within that bustle
of people.
His first statement
before the judge is given
while he is deprived
of his liberty.
He did not want
to declare absolutely anything,
he reserved the right
to remain silent.
For Sánchez Ortega,
prosecutors could have asked
about his participation
in the events,
where he was, what he saw, etc.
But instead,
they begin to ask him
about the chain of command.
For example, they ask him things
such as whether
he knew Tello Peón,
who was the director of CISEN,
whether he had seen him
at any time,
for example,
in Tijuana, Baja California.
GABRIEL:
Who else do they ask him about?
About the favorite villain,
Genaro García Luna.
WHILE YOU WERE IN DETENTION,
DID YOU EVER SEE
ENGINEER GENARO GARCÍA LUNA?
These kinds of questions
allow us to infer
that this construction
of the case
against Sánchez Ortega
may have
a greater political intention.
(INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
SALINAS DE GOTARI: In politics,
there are no coincidences.
In this instance,
there are too many
for it not to suggest
that too many interests,
uh, converged to cut short
a great life,
derail a project, and put
an end to a peace process.
LAURA: I believe
that the Colosio case
is a crime of State,
not because Carlos Salinas
de Gortari ordered
Mario Aburto to kill Colosio,
or because it was done
by some other figure
in Mexican politics
at that time.
I believe it becomes
a crime of State
when you investigate poorly,
when you violate human rights,
when people unrelated
to the assassination
are sexually abused,
and when, above all,
a historical truth
is constructed
that omits important passages
that would link other
important figures to the case.
It is here where I believe
in the crime of State
and in the construction
from the State to tell the story
in whatever way best suits them.
From the failed
initial investigation
to the recent reopening
of the case,
everyone has made
political use of it.
ERNESTO ZEDILLO PONCE DE LEÓN:
Yesterday we culminated
with the triumph of a campaign
initiated under the leadership
of Luis Donaldo Colosio.
ENRIQUE PEÑA NIETO:
Today marks 66 years
since the birth
of a distinguished son
of Sonora and a great Mexican,
Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta.
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM PARDO:
I believe that the Colosio case
is a matter of State.
Having found the second shooter,
it is important
that it be clarified.
There is a breaking point before
and after
the assassination of Colosio.
This country changed radically
in every respect.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
RAMÓN: The balances
of power were disrupted.
When a bullet enters democracy,
democracy no longer exists.
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
What exists are interests,
and today what we are living
is the hangover.
They meddled with the country's
political situation so much
that it slipped out
of our hands.
Talking with you
I feel at peace,
but I can also tell you
that I feel anger again.
I feel indignation again.
And if we are asked
what we would want, well,
that real justice be done
for Luis Donaldo.
LAURA: For me,
there is a super-impactful scene
that has affected me
all these years,
and it is that
the Lomas Taurinas neighborhood
remains abandoned,
quite abandoned.
It is only swept
and cleaned every March 23,
when PRI politicians
can go take a photo
and profit from the image
and the memory
of Luis Donaldo Colosio.
PLAZA OF UNITY AND HOPE
(MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
LUIS DONALDO COLOSIO WAS
ASSASSINATED AT THE AGE OF 44.
HIS WIFE, DIANA LAURA RIOJAS,
DIED EIGHT MONTHS LATER.
THE COUPLE LEFT TWO CHILDREN:
LUIS DONALDO,
NOW DEDICATED TO POLITICS,
AND MARIANA, WHO HAS
STAYED AWAY FROM PUBLIC LIFE.
MARIO ABURTO MARTÍNEZ
IS THE ONLY PERSON
CONVICTED FOR THE ASSASSINATION.
HE REMAINS IN A MAXIMUM-SECURITY
PRISON IN GUANAJUATO.
IF HIS LEGAL APPEALS
ARE REJECTED,
HE COULD OBTAIN HIS RELEASE
IN 2039 AT THE AGE OF 68.
AT THE CONCLUSION
OF THIS DOCUMENTARY,
JORGE ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ ORTEGA
REMAINS HELD
IN THE MAXIMUM-SECURITY PRISON
OF EL ALTIPLANO.
IF CONVICTED AS A CO-PERPETRATOR
OF THE ASSASSINATION,
HE WOULD FACE A SENTENCE OF
BETWEEN 40 AND 50 YEARS
STATEMENTS MADE BY PARTICIPANTS
DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS
OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY
OR DISTRIBUTORS
(CLOSING
THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪