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 News from Around Banderas Bay | August 2006 
For Now, Mexico Won't Investigate Lost Fishermen
 Associated Press
| | Mexican fishermen Lucio Rendon, left, Salvador Ordonez, and Jesus Vidana wave to photographers before a news conference upon their arrival to the airport in Mexico City, Mexico, Friday, Aug. 25, 2006. The three fishermen, rescued by an Asian fishing boat near Marshall Islands, allege they spent nine months adrift on the Pacific Ocean after running out of gas near the Mexican coastline in October 2005. (AP/Gregory Bull) |
The Mexican government on Thursday reversed its decision to investigate three fishermen's claims that they spent nine months adrift on the Pacific Ocean and survived by drinking rain water and eating raw fish.
Ruben Aguilar, President Vicente Fox's spokesman, said that unless a formal complaint was filed the government would not open an investigation. Aguilar had told reporters earlier in the week that "without a doubt there has to be an investigation."
Salvador Ordonez, Jesus Vidana, and Lucio Rendon told authorities they had set out on Oct. 28, 2005, from San Blas, a coastal town about 410 miles northwest of Mexico City, to fish for sharks. But mechanical problems and adverse winds quickly pushed their 27-foot boat out to sea.
They were rescued Aug. 9 near the Marshall Islands, about 5,500 miles to the west. They said two other men on the boat had died during the ordeal.
The men's story grabbed worldwide attention but many in the Mexican media have speculated the men might be drug smugglers who made up their account to avoid prosecution. There are no records of their departure, and some relatives initially said they had been gone for only three months.
The fishermen have become instant folk heroes in Mexico and the Mexican Council of Bishops has called them an example of faith. |
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