Carlos Salinas, the former president of Mexico, may find himself in a unique position: he may be able to rescue his son Emiliano and his daughter Cecilia, from the dark clutches of Keith Raniere, formerly of Clifton Park, now a resident of Monterrey.
Some say Carlos is not happy with his children’s infatuation with NXIVM but remains sidelined not wishing to alienate his children.
Salinas has made a return to power, more than 20 years after he left office. He is still in many quarters reviled for the economic collapse that occurred after his term ended in 1994. He had to flee Mexico, when his successor reportedly considered having him arrested.
Some say Carlos Salinas is the party boss of the Institutional Revolutionary Party [PRI].
In the election of 1988, Salinas won 50.4 percent of the vote, according to official tallies; but the opposition contended Salinas would have lost had the PRI not resorted to election rigging. The government said the computers crashed. The expression se cayó el sistema (“the system fell down”) refers to this curious breakdown and has became a colloquial euphemism for electoral fraud.
After Salinas took office, he began selling state-owned monopolies. More than 200 state-owned companies were put on the block from banks to airlines, from the telephone company to garbage collection. During the Salinas years, the number of Mexicans who made the “Forbes” list of billionaires grew from 1 to 24. Many of the biggest businessmen benefited from the privatization of state-owned companies. Carlos Slim bought the Mexican national phone company. Roberto Gonzáles Barrera, a godfather to the Salinas family, wound up with a virtual tortilla monopoly. Carlos Peralta got a cell phone franchise which turned out to be worth more than a billion dollars.
In 1991–92 the Salinas government co-negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which reduced tariffs between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. It went into effect in 1994.
The positive spin for Salinas is that Mexico saw prosperity not seen in a generation. This period of rapid growth coupled with low inflation led Salinas to declare that Mexico was on the verge of becoming a “First World nation”. By the end of his term, inflation was at the lowest figure in 22 years.
As his term came near to a close, Salinas appointed his successor, Luis Donaldo Colosio. But Colosio was assassinated at a campaign stop in Tijuana. Salinas named his campaign manager, Ernesto Zedillo,as his replacement.
In September 1994. José Francisco Ruiz Massieu, Salinas’ former brother-in law, was assassinated.
Zedillo was elected. Salinas stepped down. Zedillo changed Salinas’ policies regarding valuing the peso and it devalued more in a week than it had during Salinas’ six year administration. There was an economic meltdown. For ordinary Mexicans the crash was worse than the great depression. Zedillo blamed Salinas. He ordered the arrest of Carlos Salinas’ older brother Raul for the murder of Massieu.
Zedillo’s new attorney general reopened the murder case of Colosio. Within a few weeks he announced there had been a conspiracy to kill Colosio that might be connected to Salinas.
Carlos Salinas fled the country and went into exile in Dublin and Havana.
Zedillo propagated the narrative that Salinas was responsible for the financial disaster in Mexico. Mexicans believed Salinas tricked them, fooled them and ran off with the money.
Raul Salinas was found guilty of planning the death of Massieu, sentenced to 50 years and imprisoned in solitary confinement. Further criminal charges were brought against Raul after more than $90 million was found in Swiss bank accounts.
As his term came to a close, Zedillo selected Francisco Labastida as his successor.
Vincente Fox of the Alliance for Change Party won an upset victory in the 2000 election. Fox became the first president to be elected in Mexico since 1929 who was not a member of PRI.
Salinas returned to Mexico, and accused Zedillo of waging a campaign of disinformation against him to cover up Zedillo’s blunder in devaluing the peso and touching off the worst economic crisis in modern Mexican history.
The triumph of Fox made PRI open to Salinas’s return. In time Salinas cleared his brother of all charges. Raúl Salinas who had spent 10 years in prison was absolved of murder by 2005.
PRI lost the election again in 2006. But in 2012 PRI elected Enrique Pena Nieto. Some say Salinas picked him and had come full circle as the senior force of PRI.
The elections are next year. Emiliano, his son, reportedly had been considered a viable candidate for president, but association with Raniere and the branding scandal, is said to have eliminated him from consideration.
Meantime, Emiliano continues to stand by Raniere.
So where does Carlos Salinas stand. His daughter and son are deeply involved. Both have the high rank of the Green Sash in the secretive cult.
Should Raniere get indicted in the USA, and should the authorities seek to extradite him, would Carlos Salinas wish to aid Raniere.
Perhaps he cannot say it publicly, but Carlos Salinas may be on the same side as EXpians are: Praying for the end of the reign of terror of Keith Raniere.
Carlos has two children trapped in the cult.
Raniere may think he will get political protection from Carlos Salinas through the offices of his son. Perhaps the reverse is true. Perhaps Carlos is waiting like other parents of those in NXIVM for the day he can pounce on Raniere and sever his children from the human branding and blackmail cult.
Keith Raniere is in Monterrey, where some believe he will remain unless he is charged fro crimes committed in the USA. Will Carlos Salinas fight to protect him? Or be glad to be shed of his influence on his son and daughter?
