The World - News from Feb. 24, 1989

Mexico’s President Carlos Salinas de Gortari said he will send to Congress a proposal that would result in his pardoning 402 political prisoners. “Some 402 individuals who committed various crimes with social and political motives and are held as prisoners will benefit from this political decision,” he said in a statement. Independent human rights groups in Mexico estimate that about 500 people disappeared between 1967 and 1979, and that hundreds others are political prisoners. If Salinas’ request is approved, it will be the first time in 10 years that the Mexican government has granted pardons.