BELL GARDENS : City Unveils Busts of Kennedy, Colosio

The dignitaries poured in from all over Mexico: the tycoon from Baja California, the mayor from tiny Copandro in the heart of the country, the aging patriarch from the northern border town of Magdalena de Kino in Sonora state.

Even Enrique Loaeza Tovar, Mexico’s consul general in Los Angeles, came to Bell Gardens for the long-awaited unveiling of the bronze busts of two slain political leaders revered in the Latino community: Luis Donaldo Colosio and John F. Kennedy.

In an effort to strengthen ties between the predominantly Latino city and Mexico, the City Council decided to commemorate the eight-month anniversary of the assassination of Colosio, who was the leading presidential candidate when he was gunned down in Tijuana on a campaign stop.

A 23-year-old factory worker was convicted of the killing in October and sentenced to 42 years in prison amid suspicion he did not act alone.

“Colosio was viewed as a reformer and that’s why they killed him; we have to make people aware of that,” said Councilman Rudy Garcia, who organized the effort to purchase the busts, which are in the City Hall lobby.

The council also agreed to honor Kennedy, who, as the nation’s first Roman Catholic President, is well respected among Latinos.

The Nov. 22 ceremony at City Hall coincided with the 31st anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.

Garcia said the city had planned to consign the two busts from the sculptors who designed images of the slain president for the Kennedy Museum in Washington.

“We did some shopping around and found they were asking between $6,000 and $7,000 per bust,” Garcia said.

“We thought the price kind of high, so we decided to ask sculptors in Mexico. . . . It just made sense considering the makeup of our city.”

According to 1990 census figures, 87% of Bell Gardens’ 42,300 residents are Latino, the vast majority of them of Mexican heritage.

When the city searched for a competitive price south of the border, it received an offer it found hard to pass up.

The state of Michoacan in central Mexico offered to donate a free Colosio bust if Bell Gardens agreed to purchase a separate bust of Kennedy from an area sculptor. The city paid $3,500 to Jose Luis Padilla, a sculptor from Morelia, Michoacan.

“There is a large number of colosistas (former Colosio followers) who still feel strongly about the man in Michoacan, especially in Morelia,” said Miguel Escobar, press attache at the Los Angeles consulate.

Five officials from Michoacan, including three mayors, traveled north for the unveiling. Also in attendance were Colosio’s father, Luis Colosio Fernandez, and Colosio’s sister, Laura Colosio Murrieta.

“There was an outpouring of serene reflection that day; it was as if one were in Mexico it was so impressive,” Escobar said.

Colosio’s widow, economist Diana Laura Riojas de Colosio, died of complications from pancreatic cancer earlier this month in Mexico City.

“Colosio was a potential hero in the making, just like Kennedy,” Garcia said. “Now we know that anyone who speaks out of turn with that kind of power is bound to get snuffed out.”