Colosio Slaying Suspect’s Kin Flee to U.S.

Saying they fear for their lives in Mexico, six relatives of the man accused of assassinating Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio have sought political asylum here after crossing the border illegally and surrendering to U.S. authorities.

The mother of Mario Aburto Martinez, the factory worker who is charged with killing Colosio two months ago, and five other relatives took a taxi to the border Sunday afternoon from their working-class Tijuana neighborhood. They climbed the fence near the Tijuana River levee, a crossing often used by illegal immigrants, and turned themselves over to Border Patrol agents a few hundred yards from the international line. The six then requested asylum in the United States, a Border Patrol spokeswoman said.

All six were released on their own recognizance late Monday and were en route to San Pedro to unite with family members, said Peter Schey, a Los Angeles human rights activist and their attorney. They are attempting to remain in the United States on humanitarian grounds.

Aburto’s relatives said they fled Tijuana after having been followed, threatened and otherwise menaced since the assassination two months ago.

“They stated they had been threatened and harassed,” said Border Patrol spokeswoman Ann Summers in San Diego, adding that the Aburtos said a black van was tailing them Sunday. “They fear remaining in Mexico.”

The incident presents a delicate issue for the U.S. and Mexican governments. Despite longtime human rights problems south of the border, Mexicans rarely seek or receive political asylum in the United States--in contrast to refugees from Guatemala, China and other nations.

The Aburtos’ dramatic flight from Mexico puts U.S. immigration officials in the awkward position of being forced to judge whether Mexico can protect the accused assassin’s family, injecting the United States into the explosive case.

The Colosio case remains mired in mystery and conspiracy theories implicating politicians and drug cartels. A human rights lawyer in Los Angeles, where the accused assassin’s father and brothers live, said Monday that the family has been alarmed by several attempted break-ins at their home during the past two weeks.

The April slaying of Tijuana’s police chief--which officials say could be connected to the chief’s role in the assassination investigation--also frightened the family, said Schey, who is associated with the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

The imprisoned Aburto has also expressed concern about his family’s safety, Schey said.

“Mario has indicated that, for reasons that he has not made clear, he does not think the family is safe in Mexico,” said Schey, who has been advising Aburto’s relatives in Los Angeles. “The facts surrounding the case are extremely murky. . . . I think their fear is of violence by armed individuals and groups seemingly outside of the control of the government. They have no confidence that the Mexican government is in a position to protect them.”

Mexican government officials at the consulates in San Diego and Los Angeles did not return phone calls seeking comment. A representative of the San Diego consulate requested an interview with the Aburtos on Monday afternoon, but Schey said he asked Immigration and Naturalization Service officials to deny the request until he can meet with his clients.

Those arrested Sunday were Aburto’s mother, Maria Luisa Martinez, 45; Aburto’s brother, Jose Luis, 20, his 19-year-old wife, Adelia, and their 1-year-old son, Luis; and the accused assassin’s two sisters, 16-year-old Elisabeth and 10-year-old Carina. They were to be released into their lawyers’ custody while the asylum application makes its way through a backlogged system. Cases can linger for more than a year without disposition, immigration officials said Monday.

Describing the INS as very cooperative, Schey said he may also try to seek temporary residence on humanitarian grounds.

Aburto is being held in a high-security prison near Mexico City along with three alleged accomplices--guards in a crowd-control team provided by Colosio’s political party for the fateful rally. Aburto denies any connection to those suspects, however, and Mexican authorities have not answered many questions about the assassination, including those involving the motive and who masterminded the plot. Aburto first implied that he had confederates but then insisted that he had acted alone, raising speculation that he knows more than he has disclosed.

After the March 23 assassination, Aburto’s mother took refuge for several days with Catholic nuns in Tijuana before returning to her small brick house in the impoverished Colonia Buenos Aires neighborhood. Neighbors in the area told reporters last month that she did not seem particularly worried or upset.

Nonetheless, Martinez has grown increasingly fearful because of attempted break-ins that occurred at night while the family was sleeping, Schey said.

“There have been unidentified cars circling the house,” Schey said. “My understanding is that there have been threats.”

And the accused assassin’s father and two brothers in San Pedro, who contend that the Mexican government has made Aburto a scapegoat, claim to have been harassed north of the border. Aburto’s brother, Rafael, told The Times last week that he was nearly run off the Harbor Freeway and that his brother-in-law’s car was shot at while parked.

“I know something’s going to happen to me,” Rafael Aburto told The Times. “I’m not scared for myself. I’m scared for my family. . . . The real assassins are behind this. They don’t want us speaking out.”