2010-07-28 14:13

MEXICO CITY - A letter purportedly written by the kidnappers of former Mexican presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos suggests he is still alive and hints no ransom has been paid.

Newspaper columnist Jose Cardenas wrote Tuesday that he received two letters and a photo from an e-mail address that roughly translates as "mysterious kidnappers" containing photos of a blindfolded man who resembles Fernandez de Cevallos.

One of the letters, dated July 20, said, "We have not reduced the ransom demanded." The letter claimed Fernandez de Cevallos has talked to his captors about his personal and professional life.

Another letter was supposedly written by Fernandez de Cevallos to his son that complains of health problems and urges his son to negotiate seriously on the ransom demand.

It is common for Mexican families to try to negotiate directly with kidnappers because of concerns about police corruption and competence.

Mexico's attorney general's office declined to comment on the authenticity of the documents.

In one photo, a blindfolded man with the politician's signature white beard holds a copy of a magazine dated from late May. Fernandez de Cevallos, 69, disappeared around May 15. His abandoned vehicle was found near his ranch with traces of blood on a pair of scissors.

If authentic, the documents would suggest he was kidnapped for ransom. Recent speculation had suggested the politician, who ran unsuccessfully for president for the conservative National Action Party in 1994, might have been grabbed by drug traffickers seeking a prisoner exchange or by a leftist rebel group.

Until his disappearance, Fernandez de Cevallos was a key elder statesman within President Felipe Calderon's party and a national power broker who split his time between the Senate and private practice as a lawyer representing some of Mexico's richest businesses.