Mexican authorities arrest ex-intelligence agent Jorge Antonio Sanchez Ortega for involvement in the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.
MEXICO CITY: Mexican authorities have arrested a former intelligence agent suspected of involvement in the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.
Jorge Antonio Sanchez Ortega was detained on Saturday in Tijuana, Baja California, and brought before a judge, according to judicial sources.
Colosio, the Institutional Revolutionary Party candidate, was shot during a campaign rally in Tijuana on March 23, 1994.
His murder is considered a pivotal moment in Mexican political history.
Weeks earlier, Colosio had delivered a speech criticizing the corrupt old guard of the ruling party.
Similar to the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, Colosio’s murder spawned numerous conspiracy theories about who was behind it.
Mario Aburto Martinez was convicted as the sole perpetrator and remains in prison.
The identity of those who may have ordered the killing remains unknown.
Sanchez Ortega was briefly arrested at the time but released the next day.
Reports indicate he was employed then as an agent for the Center of Investigation and National Security, Mexico’s equivalent of the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Authorities have not confirmed whether new evidence has emerged in the case. – AFP
