Private Network: Who Killed Manuel Buendía?

WHO CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE.

WHO CONTROLS THE PRESENT CONTROLS THE PAST.

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY

THE CIA IN MEXICO

WAR

MOTIVE, NARCO

NATIONAL SECURITY

PRIVATE NETWORK

Today is the day.

Today is the last day Private Network will be published.

In a way, this is a farewell between myself,

the columnist Manuel Buendía, and my readers.

I'm sure that some people will be openly happy about it ,

while others will lament it a bit.

But, being a bit contrary, as always,

I should say neither group will be right.

But what matters today

is that I have a small farewell gift for all my readers, on both sides.

The end of a story whose first chapter was published here

on July 16, 1963.

When a journalist ends a phase of his professional life ,

he inevitably gives in to the temptation of looking back

and asking himself,

"What was the most important, the most entertaining,

or the most significant information I published?"

Private Network by Manuel Buendía.

We have to be careful not to become more naive

and more susceptible to propaganda.

Remember, as someone once said long ago,

"The first casualty of war is truth."

I contend that...

You can include this if you want.

History doesn't have owners. History belongs to no one.

All of us who write about these topics

have to get close to those we study

to understand their points of view and how they think.

How do you maintain your individuality and keep your distance?

I still don't know.

One day, Manuel told me,

"I have reported on gun traffickers,

the Guadalajara Tecos,

and tyrants like Rubén Figueroa."

"But if I take on the drug lords, I'm not just taking a risk,

I'm laying down my life."

There was a day when I realized, "There's something going on here."

He was getting his shoes shined in front of the Bellinghausen.

I said, "That's Manuel." And I surprised him from behind.

"Manuel!" He jumped a mile.

"Don't scare me like that!" He was on edge.

Manuel came and told us,

"You won't believe the story I'm working on."

"It's going to blow up."

He looked pale, and he said, "Virgilio, they're going to kill me."

I said, "Manuel, why are you saying...?"

"Look at everything that's happening. They're going to kill me."

Look, if I were to be murdered...

and I were able to say my famous last words,

I would only say this, "I had it coming."

MEXICO CITY WEDNESDAY MAY 30, 1984

This afternoon, in Mexico City, journalist Manuel Buendía was murdered.

The attackers fled. Police are investigating.

There were only two witnesses,

Rogelio Barrera, a chartered accountant who works close to the scene of the crime.

The other witness is Buendía's coworker, Juan Manuel Bautista.

Juan Manuel Bautista.

- Did you work with Buendía? - Yes.

- What did you do? - I was his assistant.

I worked in the archive.

Around 6:30 in the evening,

I was working in the center,

and Juan Manuel called me, and he told me what had happened.

We were going to the parking garage.

He was going to his car, and I was going to make some copies.

He asked me where I was going.

I replied, and that's the last thing he said.

That's when I heard the shots.

I turned back, and I saw him on the ground.

- How many shots were fired? - He was shot four times.

Do you know how long he was alive after being shot?

- Or did he die instantly? - I believe it was instant.

I saw two people trying to run away.

They ran to the corner of Liverpool and then turned left.

I saw a young man trying to help him.

Apparently, it was his assistant.

He tried to follow the shooters.

I saw one of them, and he tried to shoot me,

but I moved aside.

He bumped into someone while running away.

I chased him, but I lost sight of him.

I came back to check on Buendía and make calls.

He was obviously very upset, very anxious.

He called me right away.

I told him to go up and get me the number of a certain person

so I could tell him to come to the scene.

- He was a friend of Buendía's. - I wasn't mandated to do so before.

Zorrilla called.

And he said in that particular way of his,

"Sir, did you know that Buendía was killed?"

His exact words.

"No, Antonio, you just told me. How else would I know?" I already knew.

Since I got there very quickly,

the bus that had stopped was still there. The people were still there.

I knew Juan Manuel Bautista and Luis Soto.

I started to ask questions.

The bus driver

said he had seen two people.

And another person, a tall thin man who was the shooter.

I ran from Varsovia Street

to Insurgentes Avenue.

When I saw him there, lying on the sidewalk in his trench coat...

Just imagine.

I owe him everything

in terms of my development and work as a reporter.

I was five blocks away, eating at a restaurant.

When we found out, we left our food there,

and we walked over to the scene.

There were reporters already on-site.

We reported the story because we were a news agency.

MANUEL BUENDÍA SHOT FOUR TIMES IN THE BACK

MURDER

KILLED BY TWO UNKNOWN GUNMEN

This morning... I think it was today. I don't know what time it is.

I spoke with him.

He was calm and joking around with me as usual.

I expected him home early.

I was the one who went to get him.

That's all I have to say.

MIGUEL DE LA MADRID PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, 1982–1988

He was next to her. Very close to her.

The truth is, that greeting seemed enormously hypocritical

because, of course, Manuel was a victim of power.

Some of the people who attended had been criticized by Buendía.

At times, the criticism was very scathing.

I said to myself,

"They've come to make sure he's really dead."

I strongly condemn what happened.

Violence leads to nothing.

JOURNALIST MURDERED

NATIONAL JOURNALISM MOURNS

I met him almost 40 years ago on Bucareli Street.

He was a crime reporter then.

Afterward, he covered the president.

We traveled the world together.

On many occasions, we shared the same typewriter.

It affected the whole world of journalism.

There was a lot of anger

but also a lot of fear among journalists.

We said, "So many people read his work."

"If they can kill him, what will they do to us?"

Allow me to finish here

and hand things over to our presenter, Manuel Buendía,

winner of the National Journalism Award in 1977 and 1978,

with "What's Said Is Said."

Last Thursday...

uh, in my column, which is published in...

30-some newspapers...

Um...

We all know that the CIA is an espionage and subversion agency.

It's an instrument of North American imperialism

to accompany us during hard times

and to make them even worse. So...

read my column tomorrow, if you like.

This was "What's Said Is Said."

You'd always hear his readers asking, "Did you read Buendía's column yet?"

He didn't repeat himself or make things up.

He didn't lie.

This gave weight to the information he provided.

CLUELESS

He was a surly-looking guy.

You could even say he looked like a bodyguard.

If you saw him, you'd think he worked for the DFS.

He always carried a gun, either in his belt

or once he showed me

what looked like a thick book,

with a gun under the cover.

He rarely smiled.

He was never flashy.

He was always aware of his surroundings

and of who was there, even if it didn't seem like it.

The first time I saw him, I said, "Wow, who is that grumpy man?"

I remember that he went after politicians a lot.

He often reported on corruption.

He knew a lot because he knew the police from the inside.

He was a cheerful man, despite his somber face,

with his dark glasses and his mustache.

He didn't look friendly, but he was very cheerful and nice.

A great conversationalist.

We had a great time talking about silly things.

He grilled me about certain issues.

He was a journalist, after all. And I let him.

Aren't you satisfied?

I've told you that I am.

I'm very happy with the way you've run the newspaper these past years.

I have to admit you increased circulation by 80%,

you made the society pages more prominent.

And you made the comic section very funny for kids.

But that's not enough.

You have to admit this paper isn't the same as before.

- What do you mean? - Simple.

Our reporters get their news from official sources.