Manuel Buendía

For the skier, see Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Paralympics and Alpine skiing at the 1992 Winter Paralympics.

Manuel Buendía
Born	May 24, 1926(1926-05-24) Zitácuaro, Michoacán[1]
Died	May 30, 1984(1984-05-30) (aged 58) Mexico City[1]
Cause of death	Political asessination
Residence	Mexico City
Nationality	Mexican
Alma mater	Escuela Libre de Derecho[1]
Occupation	Journalist
Employer	El Día, El Sol de México, El Universal, Excélsior and others[1]
Awards	National Journalism Award (Mexico, 1977)[1]

Manuel Buendía Tellezgirón (24 May 1926 – 30 May 1984) was an influential political columnist from Mexico who, according to the official investigation, was murdered by crooked security officials of Mexico's former secret police.^[2] He had received the National Journalism Award in 1977^[1] and his assassination, along 28 similar crimes during Miguel de la Madrid's administration, prompted a national boycott against the National Press Day celebration in 1988.^[3]

Biography

Buendía was born in Zitácuaro, Michoacán, and graduated from Escuela Libre de Derecho, a private Law school in the Mexican capital. During his lifetime he wrote several political columns for Mexico City-based newspapers, such as Para control de usted and Concierto político (El Día); Sol y sombra (El Sol de México, 1977)^[1] and his most famous one: Red privada (Private Network), a muckraking daily contribution syndicated in El Universal, Excélsior and over two hundred broadsheets across the country.^[3]

His columns frequently discussed sensitive topics such as crime and corruption of government officials and trade unions, intelligence activities conducted by the United States government within his country and some coverage of paramilitary organizations.^[3] According to the official report, at the time of his death he was preparing a column on José Antonio Zorrilla —then head of the Federal Security Directorate (DFS); Mexico's former secret police— and his involvement in drug trafficking activities.^[3]

Assassination

The official investigation states that on Wednesday, 30 May 1984, just after leaving his office on Insurgentes Avenue, he was shot five times in the back at point-blank range by Juan Rafael Moro Ávila, a DFS agent working for Zorrilla and great-grandnephew of former president Manuel Ávila Camacho.^[4] A different hypothesis —held by Raymundo Riva Palacio, former Editorial Director of El Universal and a fellow recipient of the National Journalism Award— states that Moro was only responsible for driving the motorcycle used by the real assassin to escape. According to Riva Palacio, the mastermind behind the targeted killing was Juan Arévalo Gardoqui, then Secretary of National Defense (allegedly worried of Buendía exposing some Mexican Army links to drug trafficking) and the gunman was an army colonel that appeared dead three days later in Zacatecas with 120 stab wounds in his body.^[5]

A government official quoted by The New York Times asserted that, within 20 minutes of the crime, Zorrilla's agents had gone up to Buendia's office and removed files from his archives.^[3] By instructions of Manuel Bartlett, then Secretary of the Interior, the investigation was conducted by the Federal Security Directorate itself.^[4]

Both Moro and Zorrilla were apprehended five years later in the administration of Carlos Salinas; they were sentenced to 25 and 35 years' imprisonment, respectively, but were released for good conduct after serving 19 despite protests from some public intellectuals, journalists and politicians.^[6]

Selected works

• La ultraderecha en México (The Far-Right in Mexico, posthumous, 1984)^[1]
• La CIA en México (The CIA in Mexico, posthumous, 1984)^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Álvarez, José Rogelio, ed (1993) (in Spanish). Enciclopedia de México. Edición especial para Encyclopædia Britannica de México (2 ed.). Mexico City: Enciclopedia de México. p. 1080. ISBN 9684571801. OCLC 28982138. 
2. ^ Coerver, Don M.; Pasztor, Suzanne B; Buffington, Robert et al. (2004). Mexico: an encyclopedia of contemporary culture and history. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 328. ISBN 1851095179. OCLC 243829617. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=YSred4NyOKoC&pg=PA328&lpg=PA328&dq=%22Manuel+Buendia%22+journalist&source=bl&ots=lN7dT_4-mL&sig=6ROTxh8KRvT0XK_1WP_6jC-Fc2w&hl=es&ei=iKwwSsDxDJbKtgeq_9jjBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=31. Retrieved 2009-06-10. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Rohter, Larry (1989-06-15). "Mexico Arrests Investigator In Political Journalist's Murder". Section A (The New York Times): p. 1. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/15/world/mexico-arrests-investigator-in-political-journalist-s-murder.html. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Cabildo, Miguel (2009-02-18). "Libre, autor material del asesinato de Manuel Buendía" (in Spanish). Proceso. http://www.proceso.com.mx/noticias_articulo.php?articulo=66475. Retrieved 2009-06-11. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Riva Palacio, Raymundo (2007-05-30). "Crimen de Estado" (in Spanish). Estrictamente personal (El Universal). http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/columnas/65423.html. Retrieved 2009-06-14. 
6. ^ "Personalidades exigen revocar libertad anticipada de Zorrilla Pérez" (in Spanish). El Universal. 2009-06-07. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/603186.html. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 

Persondata
Name	Buendia, Manuel
Alternative names	Buendía Tellezgirón, Manuel (Spanish)
Short description	Mexican journalist
Date of birth	1926-05-24
Place of birth	Zitácuaro, Michoacán, Mexico
Date of death	1984-05-30
Place of death	Mexico City, Mexico