Adriana Salinas, sister of Raul and Carlos, and former wife of assassinated PRI General Secretary, Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu.

It is a terrible thing, an unimaginable thing. I can understand that someone act against someone else, for us it was unexplainable that they accused my brother of something that instinctively you can 't accept it

THERE WERE NOT PROBLEMS BETWEEN THEM?

Well, I don't want to say there were any problems as you told me no, They had been friends, they would stop seeing each other and they could see each other again, no doubt he was better friends with my brother Carlos, but we knew that Raul and Pepe would meet to go out sometimes even though they were not too close. They could work in the same political project for the country because they had the same profession, they could dine together, they could see each other or not see each other, that's the reality.

AT THIS MOMENT YOUR BROTHER CARLOS DECIDED TO STOP EATING?

Well, things are going to be seen that way because the two events happened at the same time, but the truth is that Carlos held a press conference before my brother Raul was arrested explaining why he was fasting and it was a coincidence that it was the day they arrested my brother.

SO YOUR ARE SAYING THAT YOUR BROTHER CARLOS WAS REACTING TO OTHER PROBLEMS?

Yes , the objective was something else. And also there was a rumor that my brother could have a problem regarding the death of Mr. Luis Donaldo Colosio, the atmosphere was tense for all of us - difficult moments

DID YOU TALK TO YOUR BROTHER CARLOS ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING?

We immediately gathered the whole family, to try to understand what was happening. We also did not know where Raul was taken and we were very worried, trying to alleviate and understand what was happening

DID CARLOS GO TO SEE RAUL AT THAT TIME?

No, Carlos did not go see Raul.

NEVER?

No, never, he has not seen Raul. He decided to fast I insist not because of my brother Raul's arrest , but because of other things. We dedicated ourselves to seeing what happened with my brother Raul, and Carlos left Mexico.

DID HE CONSULT THE FAMILY ABOUT LEAVING MEXICO?

No, the truth is that he never consulted with us about his decisions.

DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THE OTHER DAY THAT THIS WAS A CONSPIRACY?

Well, many things happened at the same time that can not have emerged from nowhere. But what I meant the other day was that I personally think that too many things happened against Mexico at the same time......One was cardinal Posada's death, Mr. Luis Donaldo Colosio's death and Mr. Jose Francisco's death, I repeat that Jose Francisco was a friend of my brother's, a helper of my brother and they shared a lot of things together, and he was a friend and political comrade. They hurt him in the center of his family, on the other hand Luis Leonardo (Colosio) was a great friend of my brother and his death also affected Mexico because he was the presidential candidate for the Partido Revolucionario Institutional (PRI), my brother's political party and also ours. He had a good chance of becoming president, and in that sense his murder politically damaged my brother. If we say it [Pepe's murder] is family damage, it is a political damage besides the friendship. In that sense, with Luis Donaldo, and also the cardinal's death, in the beginning of 1994, the EZLN emerged as social damage that affected my brother. I can not stop thinking that my brother renewed the relationship between the church and Mexico after so many years, that's my personal opinion.....

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION OF MR. ANTONIO LOZANO? MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT HE WAS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT A PROCURATOR WAS NOT FROM THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY IN MEXICO, HOW DO YOU SEE IT?

Well, in the political territory I can not comment. I think he had an opportunity to serve Mexico no matter what political party he belonged to. Now we can see the result, that it was not like we thought it was, or how everybody thought it was. But actually we had strong doubts about his performance, or the way that he handled my brother's case. From the beginning we found a lot of abnormalities and false evidence, and well, I think he had that opportunity and the president decided to fire him, and now I think that things are coming up that only time will put in order. I can't tell you anything else.

HOW SHOULD WE COMPREHEND THIS CASE, BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN LIKE A SOAP OPERA, THERE ARE A LOT OF ACCUSATIONS,

Look, it has been hard for the family to comprehend because we are in the middle and it is hard to understand when people treat it like a soap opera. For us it is a daily drama that we have in the house, and principally Pepe is not here, Pepe is the only one that disappeared and that has not been a funny soap opera for us, it has been shameful.

DID YOU VISIT RAUL EVERY DAY OR EVERY WEEK?

Not every day. His wife talks to him, sometimes we communicate with Paulina and we can't talk to him because he has 10 min. only. Sometimes he talk with us, especially his wife, his sons and sometimes with my daughter also, but his time is very limited. I tried to go once a week for the last two years almost, but the entrance is very difficult, and we see him through a glass - his conditions are humiliating.

DESCRIBE HIS CONDITIONS

We can only see him through a glass, and everything is recorded. Once a week he has a family day, three adults. He is in a maximum security jail in Mexico and in the maximum security area with the prisoners that have already been convicted, and he shouldn't be there. He can not leave his cell, he can not talk to anybody, he has a light on his face 24 hours a day, and he has a cell where he has his bed and an open latrine; he eats there, he doesn't have a chair, it is very cold, there is a guard 24 hours a day, even in his private moment he has to be seen by the guard and recorded. If nobody visits him he can't leave his cell and is only allowed to go out for an hour to a patio of 4 by 5 and because of this he became sick in his hip ,he is a runner, all of us are athletic and those are humiliating conditions . . .

AFTER TWO YEARS HOW IS RAUL?

I think he is another person and so are we, we are all different, we see life from a different perspective. We have been living around the case, our daily life changed drastically, it is very hard to mentally withdraw from the case because it affects us in every way. For example, you go out and it is in the newspapers, you watch t.v. and it is in the news or the radio, it is very hard to withdraw. Raul was practically isolated until 3 months ago when they allowed him to have a t.v. set, because before he did not have a t.v. or a radio. They permitted the t.v. but not the antenna. He has been very depressed many times, it has been hard for the whole family. Friends write to him because they are not allowed to visit him, this helps him to keep his hopes up, it has been very hard

WHAT DO YOU TALK ABOUT WHEN YOU SEE HIM?

This has been the most difficult part of the visit because we want to talk about different things so that he can rest from this whole thing. But for him, it is his life, this topic has been the only topic that he wants to talk about. He wants to know our opinion and how we see the case, what is the evidence, and who is going to come. And when we try to change the topic, he listens but he goes back to the same topic. Obsessive? Yes, he can't think of anything else

HOW DOES HE EXPLAIN THE CORPSE THAT THEY FOUND AND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED?

For all of us this last episode has been terrifying because we found out that everything that we perceived, and knew that we couldn't prove, was true and there is even much more, and that is terrifying because the authorities can fabricate evidence like a buried a body, and that is terrifying, even though it has been exposed, it is terrifying.

WHAT DOES RAUL SAY?

For Raul , Raul is very nervous at this moment, he doesn't want to get his hopes up or tries to think that everything is going much better ..... He is very scared, very scared about what is being said by the police.

WHY?

Because the new procurator of the republic and the justice procurator of the city of Mexico, already said that it was true that this person, Francisco Zetina, had buried her relative (father in law) only to damage Raul, and all the money that has been given to the witness to change their testimony against Raul, that is terrifying because the police did it.

THE POLICE CONSPIRED AGAINST RAUL?

Well, until now we can't explain it in any other way, I can't understand why the authorities have to pay people to testify against others. In Mexico we don't have a law that I think the United States has for witness protection. In Mexico when it happens the way it happened it is called extortion.

IN THE CASE OF THE MONEY, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT RAUL MADE A MISTAKE, LIKE YOU SAID?

I can't understand why he had a passport under another name, those are things that I personally don't understand and he will have to face those charges.

YOU SAID THAT RAUL IS TERRIFIED?

It is because anything good or bad that happens to Raul affects him because he has only been an actor he can not do anything about it, because he can not even present the evidence because we have to do it for him. He only takes the information in and has nobody to talk to, he can't even make a phone call to tell us if he remembers something, or tell us something private for his defense, because everything is recorded and they find out before us. So he keeps all the information and it is hard to get it, and I think that is very scary. I can't say that my brother is happy, who could be happy in jail, they haven't even told him that he is innocent.

HOW IS THE MORALE OF CARLOS AT THIS TIME?

Carlos is a very strong person, with a lot of discipline, he will look to the future, he will try to solve his problems, he is a very positive person.

DO YOU THINK HE WILL COME BACK TO MEXICO?

I think any Mexican can return to his country.

DO YOU THINK HE WILL COME BACK WITHOUT ANY CONCERNS FOR THE FUTURE?

That's something that only time will tell.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT KIDS ON THE STREET THAT WEAR MASKS OF CARLOS.

It is upsetting, we are a serious people that worked for the country, it is irresponsible. I believe that it implies lack of knowledge and poor education

CAN YOU TELL ME HOW RAUL FEELS ABOUT HIS ISOLATION FROM HIS POLITICAL PARTY?

You said the whole party. I think that only some of them said that ,and I insist because they don't know his file, they don't know the case, and they talk about it because it is the topic that is in fashion. We have lot of friends form the PRI that support us.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH YOUR BROTHERS AND THE FAMILY?

Well I think the family is going to continue together like always, we are a close family, with Raul I think the law is going to change, that the truth is coming up and that justice will be imposed, and my brother Raul will have no charges for the homicide. That is what hurts us the most, even though the topic of illicit enrichment makes us very angry. What hurts us the most is the homicide not because Raul is in jail and they want to connect him with the murder, but for Pepe's death, that is unchangeable

AND CARLOS?

I think Carlos will have the position that he deserves

I think that all the wonderful work that Carlos did for Mexico can not be erased

DO YOU THINK THAT HE CAN COME BACK TO A NEW POSITION IN THE GOVERNMENT?

Mexican history tells us that once a Mexican president leaves he doesn't come back to politics, that's been something that has not been changed. Carlos is prepared for that, he can do a lot of other things.