Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta

On a visit to Lomas Taurinas on February 11, 2021, Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas said he forgave ″the cowards″ who had killed his father. He also criticized the political class that kidnaps the power to serve their evil groups and interests and he condemned the fact that calls for unity and solidarity from the leaders are not heard.

Two Netflix series released in 2019 cover the events leading up to and following Colosio's assassination: The documentary 1994, and the crime drama Crime Diaries: The Candidate.

Colosio: El asesinato (2012), directed by Carlos Bolado, explored the aftermath of the assassination of the candidate and various conspiracy theories. It notes that two investigations were conducted, and details the 15 associated people who were killed following the investigation, as well as widespread violence and unrest.

Eight months after Colosio's assassination, his wife, Laura Riojas, died of cancer. News magazine Proceso reported Colosio's widow's first words upon learning of her husband's assassination: "Who did it?" Two children, now cared for by relatives, survived. Colosio's father continued determined to uncover what he strongly suspected are hidden truths behind his son's very public murder and, in 2004, he published a book about the case. He died in 2010.

Since Mexico's constitution permits presidents to remain in power for only one term, and as an extralegal rule presidents (until Salinas) handpicked their own successors (the party's first primary election in history took place in 1999), Colosio apparently continued to enjoy the president's favour, expressed in his famous declaration No se hagan bolas: el candidato es Colosio ("Don't get confused: Colosio is the candidate" would be an appropriate translation, literally it means "Don't get tied up in knots: Colosio is the candidate").

On 6 March 1994, the anniversary of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (the PRI), Colosio delivered a controversial but popular speech in the nation's capital, in front of the Monument to the Mexican Revolution. In it, he spoke of indigenous communities, government abuse, and the people's independence from government, all hot button issues at a time when the Zapatistas were making similar statements. The speech is widely considered the moment when Colosio broke with then-president Salinas.

At 5:05 PM PST, on 23 March 1994, at a campaign rally in Lomas Taurinas, a poor neighborhood of Tijuana, Baja California, Colosio was shot in the head with a .38 Special that was originally purchased in San Francisco. Colosio collapsed, and was subsequently rushed to the city's main hospital, after plans to fly him to an American hospital across the border were canceled. His death was announced a few hours later, amid contradicting eyewitness reports that remain to this day.

On 18 November 1994, Diana Laura Riojas, the wife of Colosio, died while investigating the murder of her husband; officially she died from pancreatic cancer. The newly elected president Ernesto Zedillo did not attend her funeral.

In the early years of Salinas' presidency, Colosio served as the chairman of their party's National Executive Committee. In 1992, Salinas chose him to serve in his cabinet, in the newly created position of Social Development Secretary.

He was elected to Congress as the federal deputy for his home town in 1985 and, in 1987, he was selected to serve on the PRI's National Executive Committee. In 1988, Salinas chose him as the campaign manager for his presidential campaign. In the same election, Colosio was elected to the Senate, representing Sonora.

Colosio-Murrieta studied economics at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, better known by its initials ITESM, after which he joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 1972. Shortly thereafter, he began postgraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and research at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria before returning to Mexico. In 1979, he joined the Secretariat of Budget and Planning under future president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis ðoˈnal.ðo koˈlo.sjo muˈrje.ta]; 10 February 1950 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the Mexican presidential campaign of 1994.

Colosio was the son of Luis Colosio Fernández (1923–2010) and Ofelia Murrieta Armida García. Born into a family with a long political heritage in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Colosio's family was of Italian and Spanish descent.