MUSIC. TIJUANA SLEAZE PICS

Few American tourists are aware of the dangerous

undercurrents in Tijuana ..... the city that was, for so long,

just a cheap day trip south of the border ... is now one of the

biggest centres for drug trafficking into the United States.

It's easy to see why ...

From here the skyscrapers of San Diego lie temptingly

within reach.

The cities separated by a hopelessly inadequate border ...

Back to VIS

Jet Lands

On the 23rd of March last year .... the hear to the Mexican

Presidency ... came to campaign in Tijuana ...

2.20

Colosio Dub

Tape

Colosio Speech

vlo

Having been anointed as the candidate ot.-the ruling party

Colosio ... was virtually guaranteed that office ...

But from the time he was hustled onto the streets here he

had only 4 hours to live.

He'd sworn to reform the justice system ... to root out

corruption ... to fight drug trafficking.

'Let's go friends for the Presidency of Mexico ...

But even as he spoke Colosio was being stalked by

assassins.

One camera recorded the moment of his death.

3.17

Sync. Colosio

Killed

Colosio's bodyguards wrestled the

gunman to the ground.

When they pulled him to his feet some

in the crowd tried to beat him.

Mario Aborto ..a 25-year-old mechanic ..

living in Tijuana ••had been caught

red-handed ...

04.03

Despite arresting; three other people

the government named Aborto a lone

assasin.

Nearly a year later, Colosia is a

martyr to many of the people of Lomos

Tauremas.

But the story of his assasinat1on ..

is ony now beginning to unravel.

PTC

TODAY THIS OTHERWISE UNDISTINGUI~HED

BARRIO ..SO TYPICAL OF THE SPRAWLING

POVERTY ALONG THE BORDER HAS A

PERMANENT PLACE IN'MEXICO'S HISTORY.

COLLOSIO BECAME THIS COUNTRY'S

JFK ..MARIO ABORTO ITS LEE HARVEY

OSWALD.

AND THE CONSPIRACY SURROUNDING THIS

ASSASINATION IS NO LESS INTRIGUING WITH

STRANDS THAT CONNECT POWERFUL DRUG

CARTELS TO SOME OF THE MOST INFLUENCIAL

MEN IN MEXICO'S RULING PARTY ..THE PRI.

04.49

SYNC. ROBERTO SALINAS. TAPE 5.

*~LAST ANSWER IN INTERVIEW**

ASSASINATION IS A BARBARIC MEANS OF

COMMUNICATION AND THE PROBLEM IS TO

DECODE THE MESSAGE THAT HAS BEEN SENT.

SYNC/SUBTITLES "THE OWL". 12.54

"THERE WAS A VITAL INTEREST FOR THE

NARCO-TRAFFICKERS TO STOP COLOSIO

REACHING THE PRESIDENCY.

NOT ONLY THE NARCO TRAFFICKERS BUT THE

POLITICIANS PROTECTING THE DRUG

TRAFFICKERS. II .

05.12

v/o

Eduardo Valle ..known in Mexico as "the

Owl" ..has been decoding the message of I

Colosio's assasination.

**DISSOLVE TO DOCUMENTS SHOT TAPE 26.

At that time he was the special

prosecutor for the Federal Attorney

Genera1 ...dealing with tha drug

cartels.

Held spent a year investigating the

most powerful criminal organisation in

Mexico ..the Gulf Cartel.

**DISS0LVE BACK TO C/UP**

The day Colosio was killed The Owl

gathered up his documents and fled to

Washington •••

•He was no longer safe in

Mexico ••as an insider in the

government He knew too much.

05.46

SYNC ON PARK BENCH. SNOW SEQ.

SYNC/SUBTITLE.

"I AM ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED OF THIS

DIRECT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MAJOR

DRUG TRAFFICKERS AND THE HIGHEST

POLITICAL LEVELS IN MEXICO."

CURTAIN CLOSING

SEQUENCE. IN TO TV.

v/o

Living like a dissident in his tiny

apartment ••The Owl is using the

documents of his past investigations to

piece together the Colosio conspiracy.

He now claims Colosio was shot twice by

different assasins •..and that they were

helped by an inside team ...

06.28

TV 6EO. TAPE 1.

OWL SYNC SUBTITLE.3~36 APPROX.

"WE CAN'T POSSIBLY ACCEPT THAT THERE

WAS ONLY ONE INDIVIDUAL. THERE ARE 2 .

BULLETS. 2 WEAPONS. 2 ASSASINS."

vlo

He believes the killing was ordered

by the head of the Gulf cartel ..Juan

Garcia Abrego ••.

4.04.

HE'S THE ONE ON THE LEFT, THE BIG ONE •

THIS 16 JUAN GARCIA ABREGO. THE NUMBER

ONE.

Q> THE NUMBER ONE/

EL NUMERO UNO•

V/O

He has identified highly placed

government officials ...who helped

the cartel to penetrate Colosio's

campaign staff with its own agents.

SYNC./SUBTITLEB. 15.38 ABSOLUTELY"

**CUT TO TAPE 26. 00.35.

THE PENETRATION WAS AT THREE LEVELS AT

THREE LEVELS.

OF HIS IMMEDIATE PERSONAL SECURITY

STAFF; HIS SCHEDULERS; AND POLITICAL

PENETRATION.

BECAUSE OF THESE THREE ELEMENTS COLOSIO

WAS DEFENCELESS AGAINST A POTENTIAL

ASSASIN.

07.25

BACK TO TIJUANA.

MUSIC STING.??

vlo

In the distorted world of the

border such theories make sense.

In the past years there've been 1500

Drug related assasinations.

SYNC. POLICE

Even the police forces battle' each

other over drug profits.

~

These heavily armed police patrol the

city 24 hours a day.

They men are the Federal government's

enforcement arm.

But it's a withered arm at best.

08.14

LIBRARY

On March the third last year three

weeks before the Colosio assasination ..

.•.a shootout between Federal and state

police left five dead.

At the heart of it were conflicting

loyalties to the drug bosses.

The next month FederiCO Benitiez, Chief

of Tijuana.'s Municipal Police ••was also

assasinated.

He'd let it be known he was

investigating the Colosio conspiracy.

The cartels kill those they can't buy.

09.01

SYNC/SUBTITLES. THE OWL TAPE 26· 4.48.

"THEY HAVE A DIRECT INFLUENCE OVER

JUDGES, OVER THE CHIEF HEADS OF THE

POLICE - AS MUCH FEDERAL AS LOCAL THEY

HAVE DIRECT INFLUENCE OVER

GOVERNORS OVER MUNICIPAL PRESIDENTS,

OVER SENATORS, DEPUTIES AND THE

PRESIDENCY OF MEXICO."

09.30

DRUG SEQUENCE. TART WITH LIMPING

~ AND DRUG PARCEL ON

SHOULDERS • ,

V/O

The federal police showed us their warehouse swollen with captured drugs.

The Mexican traffic began with marijuana A huge market in itself ..but it's bulk:

and difficult to conceal.

The sticky base for "brown sugar" ..

Mexican heroin also played a big part

in financing the growth of the

cartels .•

But the most dramatic change came about

eight years ago when the Mexican

cartels started shipping colombian

cocaine over the border.

10.20

It's estimated 70 percent of the

cocaine used in the US comes through , Mexico.

Boosting the combined income of the

countries drug cartels to 30 billion

dollars a year .•

A commerce that outstrips that of the

·oil industry .•the mainstay of .

Mexico's economy.

10.41

SYNC. SUBTITLE THE OWL TAPE 25

"THERE IS A GREAT FIGHT WITHIN MEXICO

TO DEAL WITH THE DRUG TRAFFICKERS.

CUT TO.

"ORGANISED CRIME IN MEXICO REPRESENTS

AN ESSENTIAL FACTOR OF POLITICAL

PRESSURE - IF WE DON'T ELIMINATE IT

MEXICO WILL BECOME A NARCO-DEMOCRACY.

vlo

The Mexican political system is

well-adapted to becoming a

narco-democracy.

It's been a one-party state for more

than 65 years - with all the

opportunities for corruption that

entrenched power provides.

The vast resources of the drug

cartels have sponsored a bloody

struggle for control of the ruling

party.

It's victims have been reformers whose

positions at the highest levels of the

PRI have not protected them •.

11.49

COLOSIO.

The first of those victims was the

Presidential candidate Colosio.

MASSIEU.

Then six months later ..on September the

28 the secretary general of the

PRI .•Jose Fransico Ruiz Masseiu was

gunned down in the centre of Mexico

City.

GRAB OF l1ARIA

"I USED TO DO A LOT OF EXERCISE

"..•.JOSE FRANSICO IS KILLED."

12.33

PICS OF ASSASIN.

V/O

Interrogation of his assasin

quickly revealed a wider

conspiracy - linked to party

conservatives known as the

"dinosaurs" .

GRAB OF MARIO R.M

SYNC/SUBTITLES TAPE 61 4.00

12.43

PULL OUT FROM

KENNEDY PIC TO

REVEAL MARIO.

"ALL EVIDENCE POINTS

TOWARDS THE MOST

CONSERVATIVE WING OF THE

PRI. "

V/O

It's no coincidence that the

Kennedy brothers take pride of

place in the living room of Mario

Ruiz Massieu •..

The brother of the assasinated

party boss ....Mario was also the

Deputy Attorney General He was handed the job of

investigating his brotherls killing.

13.07

SYNC/SUBTITLES. MARIO.

TAPE6/11.46 .

•

"THE DRUG TRAFFICKERS HAVE

INFILTRATED THE POLITICAL

LIFE OF MEXICO.

CUT TO. 8.00 APPROX..

"AND I THINK THEY PUSH AND

SHOVE THIS CONSERVATIVE,

REACTIONARY WING OF THE PRI

TO CARRY OUT ASSASINATIONS

TO GAIN EVEN GREATER POWER."

SYNC MARIA TAPE 12/15.00

13.35

SEQ VVITH LITTLE

GIRL GETTING

READY AND

LEAVING FOR

SCHOOL

"WHEN HE BEGAN TO GET CLOSE

TO THE LEADERS OR SOMETHING

THE TROUBLES BEGAN.

REV ~ TAPE 13/13.53

Q;WERE YOU GETTING A LOT OF

THREATS AT THAT TIME?

**CUTTO**

SYNC TAPE 12/18.10

"WE HAD A LOT OF TELEPHONES

TO SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO

KILL MY HUSBAND.

**CUTTO 18.24**

AND THE KIDNAP OF MY LITTLE GIRL. IF WE DON'T KEEP QUIET

THEY'RE GOING TO KIDNAP MY

LITTLE GIRL.

OH IT WAS HORRIFIC FOR US."

VIO

His family remain under threat

today ....

 They live surrounded by high walls ...with ten permanent

bodyguards.

His daughter Regina travels to

school with four bodyguards in

two cars.

None of the family are in any doubt that the threats come from within the Party or it's criminal connections.

14.35

CARLOS SALINAS IN STREET.

It was the then President Carlos

Salinas who directed him to

investigate his brother's

assasination ....it was a popular

move.

And the dead man had been

married to one of Salinas' sisters.

PIC OF SALINAS

AND FAMILY.

V/O

The President even invited the

Massieu's to the palace a week

after the killing ..a very public

display of his support.

SYNC MARIA. 16.23

"HE WAS VERY CLOSE. HE WANTS

TO KNOW EVERYTHING. HE

TELEPHONED. EVEN HEDAILED

THE TELEPHONE AND SAID.

HULLO MARIA. I'M CARLOS

SALINAS ..

OH HELLO MR PRESIDENT HULLO.

AND WAS VERY CLOSE. HE EVEN

SUGGESTED TO HAVE THE

BODYGUARDS. THE SPECIAL CARS

AND EVERYTHING.

Q; BUT THAT CHANGED DIDN'T IT.

WELL. WHEN THE

INVESTIGATION BEGAN TO BE ..

DIFFICULT FOR THE

GOVERNMENT AND THE PARTY.

YES.

15.38

SYNC. MARIO. R.M. 15.20

APPROX. SYNC/SUBTITLES.

ftS SOON AS THE INVESTIGATION

REACHED INTO THE HIGHER

LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.

PRESIDENT SALINAS. WHO HAD

BEEN SUPPORTING ME UNTIL

THEN, CHOSE TO SUPPORT THE

PRI POUTICAL CLASS WHICH

PREVENTED ME FROM GOING ANY

FURTHER.

16.02

MEXICO CITY STREET SHOTS

In November Mario Ruiz Massieu reined

••accusing the Party of covering up its

involvement in the assasination.

Mexicans have watched in amazement as this

almost Shakespearean drama unfolds.

And the weight of public opinion has turned

decisively against the PRI ...for few 'doubt

that narco-politicians are in the ascendency .. !

that their country is taking the same road as Colombia.

SYNC. ROBERTO SALINAS DE LEON. TAPE 5

APPROX XXXXX 14.00

I THINK THE INFLUENCE IS SUBSTANTIAL ...***possible cut here***

ZEDILLO HIMSELF HAS SAID THAT THIS CONSTITUTES

THE NUMBER ONE SOCIAL PROBLEM IN MEXICO.

****CUT TO 15.37***

16.40

ONE OF THE FACTORS BEHIND THE TWO POLITICAL

ASSASINATIONS WAS CLEARLY THE INFLUENCE OF

NARCO POLITICS.

16.54

v/o

Few insiders from the

Drug cartels have spoken out about their operations and

lived.

In a remote but afluent part of southern

Texas we met a man who has ...

In the Gulf Cartel ..he was known as El Profe

the professor.

In the 1980's he was a partner in the

drug smuggling business of Juan Garcia Abrego head of the Cartel.

He watched the growth of Narco-politics from the other side...

17.30

SYNC. MEXICO VERY CORRUPT.

When Abrego put out a contract on his life ..

El Profe turned to the FBI..

His cooperation earned him the right to

stay in the United States .••

SYNC. I WORKED FOR THE FBI JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.

TEN YEARS ...

SYNC/SUBTITLE. EL PROFE.

I DENOUNCE ABREGO AS A MAN MORE POWERFUL. THAN

THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO.

OVERLAY OVER PICS OF ABREGO.

AN ASASSIN, VERY POWERFUL, VERY DANGEROUS.

VERY ASTUTE.

EL PROFE SYNC. TAPE 23B 2.05 approx.

"I'VE GIVEN LOTS OF EVIDENCE TO THE AMERICAN

GOVERNMENT ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE CORRUPTION

AMONGST THE FEDERAL POLICE AND THE GENERALS.

18.16

BY USING A SOME OF

THE CUTAWAYS AND

TWO SHOTS: SET UP

THIS v/o SECTION.

SIDE SHOT 13.08

LOW SHOT 12.11

HANDS AND RING 11.43

WIDE TWO SHOT 10.2.6.

V/O

The Profe says he's maintained connections

with at least one senior figure in the Gulf Cartel.

And he claims to have know of the plot to kill the PRI's Secretary General long before it happened.

REV.Q. TAPE 23D. 16.33

DO YOU HAVE DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF THE

INVOLVEMENT OF THE CARTEL IN THE ASSASINATION

OF RUIZ MASSIEU - OR IS IT JUST A THEORY?

SYNC/SUBTITLES. TAPE 23 C 2.49

IT"S NOT A THEORY. I HAVE THE INFORMATION.

REV Q. TAPE 23 D 17.21.

WELL WHY WAS HE ASSASINATED?

SYNC/SUBTITLES EL PROFE 4.26

THEY KILLED HIM TO PUT THE BRAKES' ON HIS

BROTHER WHO HAD DECIDED TO PUT AN END

TO THE GULF AND GUADALAJARA CARTELS

AND TO SEND A MESSAGE THAT NOONE SHOULD

GET INVOLVED IN JUAN'S AFFAIRS.

18.56

5.05. SYNC CONT.

AND I WOULD SAY THAT THE RESULTS WERE

SATISFACTORY.

19.01

FLAG FLAPPING WIDE AND

C/UP.

*CHECK FOR LOW COMMUNIST

REAUSTTYPE SHOT OF MAN

AND FLAG FROM DEMO.

V/O

One of the pre-conditions for this

level of corruption was the

nature of the ruling party itself.

As in so man one party states the

Political elite learned an

arrogance that knew few limits.

19.16

WIDE INTRO SHOT IN

STAIRWELL. TONY AND PACO.

SYNC: IT'S ASTONISHING ISN'T

IT.

A: RIVERA IS A STORY TELLER, AND THESE ARE HIS STORIES..

...._ v10

The stories in Diego Rivera's

vivid panels in the Old

Presidential Palace ....are

reminders of the Socialist zeal

that inspired the Mexican Revolution and gave birth to the ruling part and it's new political class.

19.46

TWO SHOT QUESTION.

SYNC.7.14.

Q; WHAT HAPPENED TO THE

REVOLUTION~. THIS SORT OF

IDEALISM EMBODIED IN THIS

PAINTING?

CUT BACK TO 8.41.

THEY TRIED TO PRETEND THAT

THEY WERE THE INHERITORS OF

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION.

SYNc. CUT TO 9.12

THE PRI - THE PARTY THAT IS

RULING THIS COUNTRY AS A

DICTATORSHIP SINCE 1920.

BUT THEY WERE NOT ..THIS IS

CLEAR (POINTS UP) .. IN THE

STORIES HERE.

WALKING UP STAIRS TOWARDS CAMERA

V/O

Writer and philosopher Paco Taibo is considered by many to be one of the principal voices of a new Mexico.

And one of the fiercest critics of the PRI...

20.19

SYNC 12.17

THE PRI IS OUR DEVIL OUR CURSE AGAINST THE MEXICANS.  THEY GIVE THE PEOPLE THE IDEA THAT THEY ARE ETERNAL, THEY WERE FOREVER, THAT NOTHING COULD CHANGE. 

REV QUESTION:

HOW DID THEY DO THAT?

YOU CAN DO IT IN 65 YEARS.

JUST WORKING AND REPRESSION AND CONTROOLLING AND BUYING AND CORRUPTING EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH, YOU CAN BUILD THIS , BUT EVERYONE KNOWS ETERNITY DOESN'T EXIST. 

Q. DO YOU THINK THE ONE PARTY STATE IS COLLAPSING.

THIS IS THE END BUT NOBODY KNOWS HOW LONG IS THE END.

20.56

V/O

There are late echoes here from the collapse of communism in eastern Europe.

Hints that the blood dimmed history may at last be turning.

But whether the old system is replaced by real democracy or a confederacy of criminals remains in the balance.

21.17

END