The Federal Attorney General's Office issued a statement Friday clearing former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of involvement in a political killing for which his brother was arrested this week.
The statement came just hours after the former president announced he was launching a hunger strike until the current administration clears him of any involvement in another assassination, that of president candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.Salinas said the hunger strike was also aimed at forcing President Ernesto Zedillo to take responsibility for the Dec. 20 peso devaluation and Mexico's ensuing financial crisis.
"I want to stress that I am resolved to give the most valuable thing I have so that these two issues can be cleared up," Salinas said.
"I am ready to give my life in exchange for the truth," Salinas said.
The hunger strike and Salinas' public defense of his administration are without precedent in Mexico, where former presidents - who by law cannot run for re-election - have traditionally retired without comment from the political stage.