RAUL SALINAS FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

50-year sentence stuns Mexico, points finger at former president

MEXICO CITY - In a stunning verdict, the scion of one of the most powerful
dynasties of Old Mexico - once thought to be untouchable - has been found
guilty of masterminding the murder of a family rival.

Raul Salinas, 52, wheeler-dealer and playboy, whose brother, former
president Carlos Salinas, negotiated free trade with Canada and the U.S.,
was sentenced yesterday to 50 years in jail for the assassination of his
brother-in-law, Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu.

Yesterday's verdict, read by a court clerk at the Toluca courthouse, west of
Mexico City, rocked the nation. Lawyers representing Salinas were
ashen-faced and trembling, openly shocked at the verdict by Judge Ricardo
Ojeda.

``We have already appealed,'' said Salinas' lawyer, Raul Gonzalez. ``He's
absolutely prepared to continue fighting. He is innocent of the crime.''

This has been the trial of the century in Mexico. It has pitted President
Ernesto Zedillo's administration against the family of elderly patriarch
Raul Salinas Sr. and the cadre of rich and powerful business barons they
represent.

The Salinas story is a saga of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

Swiss officials are trying to confiscate $750 million of Raul Salinas'
money, thought to be the spoils of a protection racket he ran for Colombian
drug lords while his brother was president from 1988 until 1994.

That money trail was unearthed after his wife, the beautiful Paulina
Castanon, waltzed into a Geneva bank and tried to withdraw $125 million in a
single afternoon.

Raul Salinas is known for his mistresses and an opulent lifestyle that
included private jets, fancy homes, yachts and an apparent scorn for the
rule of law.

In fact, when Raul and Carlos were little boys, they killed a family maid, a
young Indian girl, in what was described as a ``shooting mishap.''

Prosecutors argued that Raul Salinas had Ruiz Massieu killed in September,
1994, because the former secretary-general of the ruling PRI represented a
threat to the family. There was also bad blood after Adriana Salinas'
marriage to Ruiz Massieu ended, apparently because he was gay.

That assassination came six months after the murder of the ruling party's
presidential candidate, Luis Donaldo Colosio, a crime that has never been
solved.

Yesterday's verdict points a finger at Carlos Salinas, according to critics,
and makes any political comeback for the former president virtually
impossible.

Salinas has been in self-imposed exile since he went on a brief hunger
strike in early 1995 to protest agtainst allegations he was responsible for
the 1994 economic collapse.

He lives in Dublin, but is believed to have travelled to Havana to await his
brother's verdict.

Carlos Salinas, the most hated man in Mexico, was once considered a friend
of Canada's, described by former prime minister Brian Mulroney as a ``great
democrat'' during free trade negotiations.

``This conviction of Raul is a conviction of Carlos,'' independent senator
Alfolfo Aguilar Zinser told The Star last night.

Like others, he believes Carlos Salinas had to be aware of his brother's
role in the murder.

``The judge had no choice. He either had to convict Raul Salinas or the
president,'' he said, explaining Zedillo would have been accused of striking
a deal with the Salinas family if the verdict had gone the other way.

Carlos Salinas has always maintained he had no knowledge of any of his
brother's actions and Raul Salinas has always maintained his innocence,
insisting that ``like all men, I believe I have committed errors . . . but
there exist no crimes.''