The Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo Video Interview

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Video translation is as follows:

Issa Osorio: Miguel Feliz Gallardo, thank you very much for accepting to do this interview. This is the first time that you’ve accepted to do an interview on camera. Why now?

Miguel Feliz Gallardo: You’re asking me why I’ve decided to grant this interview? I’ve agreed to this because of your spirit, because of your fighting spirit. 

Issa Osorio: 32 years have passed since your capture in April of 1989. How is your state of health?

Miguel Felix Gallardo: My health is horrible. My family is digging a hole so that I can be buried inside the root of a tree. I don’t have any more signs of life left in me. Ever since I lost everything I also lost all sensitivity, my hearing, my vision. 32 years of my life have gone by. It’s been an eternity for a man who didn’t commit any crime. 

Issa Osorio: How has life been for you inside of prison?

Miguel Angel Feliz Gallardo: Things have been bad for all of us here. There’s no phone privileges, no lawyer visits. I don’t even know why I’m here. 

Issa Osorio: How did your capture in 1989 come about?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I was inside a Cosmos home in Guadalajara when the authorities suddenly knocked down the door without an arrest warrant or an order for a court appearance. Among my family members my son and daughter were present when this happened. I was beaten and forcibly removed from my home in less than a minute. 4 of my ribs were broken. I asked why this was happening. And the only response I received was more torture. A bag was placed over my head to suffocate me. Mineral water was shoved into my nostrils. I was beaten.  

Issa Osorio: You were sentenced to more than 40 years in prison for the murder of the DEA agent Enrique ‘Kike’ Camarena. Why have you been linked to this homicide?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: That is a very unfortunate topic. This gentleman Camarena… Whoever they were, whoever they may have been. In this matter there are material authors, masterminds who are incarcerated. That have paid with their lives in prison. Just as well things have turned out bad for these individuals. You want to know why I’m ignoring how all of this has been linked back to me? The reason for this is because I never knew this man (Camarena). I’ll repeat to you once more. I’m not a man of firearms. I’m sorry to hear this all happened. Because I’m aware that Camarena was a good man. 

Issa Osorio: Is there something that you’d like for Mr. Camarena’s widow to know?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: My utmost desire is that she finds closure. And that she finds satisfaction in knowing that the guilty are paying for their crimes. 

Issa Osorio: Rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo were also pointed out as having participated in the execution of the agent Camarena. What was your relation to Caro Quintero and Fonseca Carillo?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I don’t know these individuals. We didn’t know each other in the street either. With all due respect we’ve never once spoken to each other. My lawyer Martinez Inclán told me: you’re not involved in any of this. Don’t ever talk about this matter to anyone. 

Issa Osorio: Here recently there was a tv series that speaks on your life. And it painted you as a narco trafficker, a cocaine czar for having opened the routes for cocoa between South America and the United States. As well as having business deals with Pablo Escobar. 

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I never even knew this individual. This individual that you’ve mentioned to me…I’ve never once been to Medellin or in Cali. Like that tv series claims. I never met him. He was subsequently killed. He died when I was in jail. There is no existence of a czar here. That never existed. There were never any cartels in Guadalajara. I don’t know about nowadays. But that never once existed. What I’m trying to say is that we lived a family life. I would take my kids to school…

Issa Osorio: Do you identify with the person on this piece of paper?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: No. Miguel Felix Gallardo is an honest man. 

Issa Osorio: You’ve been imprisoned for many years now. Have you ever considered escaping?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: An escape has never once crossed my mind. 

Issa Osorio: Mr. Miguel what did you do for a living before you were arrested?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I worked in the agricultural sector and in the livestock business. I’ve done this ever since I was a kid. My parents were the first to export vegetables to the United States in 1942. I was born in 1946. I’m going on 76 years of living. I also owned 2 pharmacies and 2 rundown hotels. 

Issa Osorio: Do you regret anything?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: When you haven’t committed any crime there’s no reason for me to regret anything. I didn’t participate in that crime. 

Issa Osorio: What is your biggest wish, what would you like to do if you one day gained back your freedom?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: Mrs. Issa I’ve lost more than half of my family in jail. A daughter, my parents. My mother passed away without her belongings ever being returned to her. Her belongings! I’m not thinking about freedom. I think about my grandkids. 

Issa Osorio: Do you hope to one day leave prison?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: No, I don’t. As you can see I don’t have much life left at this point. I had surgery on my stomach. They removed 8 hernias. They took away my vision, they took away my hearing. And as you can see I can no longer walk on my own. I’m not waiting for..obviously we all believe in miracles. But…my grandkids would be my greatest treasure. 

Issa Osorio: Do you have any hope in the recent amnesty that Lopez Obrador has for inmates 75 years of age and older?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: No. I am not seeking that, I am not seeking that. I know that the president is a man of good will. He is fighting against social inequality. He’s giving out pensions. He’s also giving out many other things. And it’s not in me to take up his time. I am a dying man who doesn’t want anything more than to be buried within the root of a tree. I am not asking anything from this gentleman. On the contrary I hope all goes well with his career. This current problem with the Corona virus diminished Mexicans purchasing power. But this president is a man of good will.  And I hope God helps him out in what all he does. 

Issa Osorio: How do you feel about the problem with violence within this country?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: As I had mentioned to you Mrs. Issa. I owned a 5 inch television in the other prison that I was in. And I have no knowledge about this violence that you mention. What I can say is that the violence is a consequence of unemployment. And of the social inequality that today Mr. Lopez Obrador is resolving a bit at a time. We just have to give him some time, we just have to give him some time. 

Issa Osorio: And to conclude Mr. Miguel how would you like to be remembered?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I want to be remembered as the honest man that I always was. I am a man who never used firearms. 

Issa Osorio: Thank you very much for your time. Thank you just as well for this interview. 

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: Every individual who was accused was given their freedom again. Except in my case I haven’t regained my freedom. So, then…in my way of being I appreciate that you’ve done this interview. You’ve personally won this. May God bless you. 

Issa Osorio: Thank you Mr. Miguel. Thank you very much. 

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I need to get something to eat. I’ve been sick for several days now. I want this guy to take a look at my eye. 

Issa Osorio: Ok. Are you blind, completely blind?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I am completely deaf. 

Issa Osorio: What happened to your arm?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I broke it because I can no longer walk. If I try to walk on my own I tend to fall. 

Issa Osorio: Why do you need this oxygen tank? Are you sick, what exactly do you have wrong?

Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo: I have a serious pneumonia. It’s very severe. I’ve been receiving injections for several days now. The medical service here has taken good care of me. Ma’am I have to leave now…

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