Mexico City – Former presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, freed this week after nearly eight months in captivity, persuaded his captors to accept $30 million in lieu of the $100 million ransom they initially demanded, Mexican daily Milenio said Wednesday.
The ransom was delivered Dec. 10 by the captive's son, Diego Fernandez de Cevallos Gutierrez, and attorney Antonio Lozano Gracia.
They carried the $30 million - most of it in U.S. currency - in 17 packets to a rendezvous at a bridge located between Mexico City and Toluca, capital of the surrounding state of Mexico, the newspaper said.
Fernandez de Cevallos, a political powerbroker and high-powered lawyer, led the ransom negotiations with his captors "from the first moment," according to Milenio.
E-mails exchanged by the kidnappers with the captive's friends and families show that "Boss Diego" told his loved ones where to get the money for the ransom and said that if necessary, they should contact President Felipe Calderon to demand the federal government pay what it owes Fernandez de Cevallos' law firm for his "many successful litigations" on officialdom's behalf.
One of the e-mails included Fernandez de Cevallos' plea for support from figures in business and politics, but the captive's son did not deliver that message to the intended recipients because he had already assembled enough funds to pay the ransom, the newspaper said.
Fernandez de Cevallos, who appeared before the media Monday just hours after his release, has so far declined to offer many details about the kidnapping.
The 69-year-old Fernandez de Cevallos remains a leading member of the ruling conservative National Action Party, or PAN, more than two decades after losing the 1994 presidential election to Ernesto Zedillo.
He disappeared May 14 from his La Cabaña ranch near San Clemente, a town in the central state of Queretaro.
The politician's vehicle was found at the entrance to the ranch's garage, with traces of blood inside.
A group calling itself Misteriosos Desaparecedores (Mysterious Disappearers) claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and released four statements during the politician's captivity.
The group issued a statement Sunday, titled "Epilogo de una desaparicion" (Epilogue to a Disappearance), announcing Fernandez de Cevallos' imminent release.
Some suggest the politician was abducted by former guerrillas, while others suspect that the kidnappers were current or former police officers.
In his comments Monday, Fernandez de Cevallos said both political and financial factors were involved in his kidnapping.
"They considered me a man who was an enemy of their causes," he told Radioformula.
Fernandez de Cevallos has been one of the most powerful figures in the PAN and Mexican politics in the past two decades.
Known for his fiery oratory, "Boss Diego" was a member of the lower house of Congress from 1991 to 1994 and a senator from 2000 to 2006.
He also runs a successful law firm that has represented both Mexico's blue-chip corporations and reputed drug kingpins.
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