Kidnapped Mexican Politician Freed After 7 Months

Former Mexican presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos was freed yesterday, 7 months after kidnappers snatched him from his ranch north of Mexico City. The 69-year-old political heavyweight known as "El Jefe" didn't give reporters any details of his months in captivity. He said that, as a man of faith, he has forgiven his abductors but as a citizen, he wants authorities to catch them, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Mexican media reported over the weekend that Cevallos would soon be freed after they received a statement believed to be from his captors. The statement, apparently from a left-wing guerrilla group, said ransom demands had been met and described Cevallos as a member of the country's "political mafia" who was "untouchable until that night when his dark past caught up with him." (More Mexico stories.)