Briefly

Mexico City

Former president Jose Lopez Portillo dies

Jose Lopez Portillo, Mexico’s president from 1976 through 1982, died Tuesday, family members said. He was 83.

Medical officials said Lopez Portillo died at Angeles del Pedregal Hospital in Mexico City, where he was being treated for pneumonia.

Lopez Portillo took office as Mexico was bogged down in its worst economic recession since World War II. Yet, he promised to bring prosperity for all. He did — for a while.

New oil exploration during his six-year his term brought increasing prosperity. But that was following by a severe economic slump as Mexico’s key oil industry took a downturn.

In recent years, Lopez Portillo had been in poor health, undergoing emergency double bypass heart surgery in 2001.

Rome

Tanzi children arrested in Parmalat probe

The scandal engulfing Parmalat widened Tuesday as police arrested seven people, including the son, daughter and brother of jailed company founder Calisto Tanzi.

Stefano and Francesca Tanzi, Calisto’s adult children, were picked up Tuesday in their homes in Parma.

The two are suspected of fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association, said Maurizio Raponi of the tax police division in nearby Bologna.

Calisto Tanzi has told interrogators that as much as $640 million was diverted from Parmalat to cover losses by the family’s tourism businesses. Investigators now believe that a total of $1.15 billion was diverted from Parmalat to the Tanzis’ travel business and other family activities, according to news reports.