Mommy Life

December 6, 2007 1:00 PM

A window into Mexico: kidnapping and personal safety

My friend Nilda - who's guest blogged here before - had a personal crisis this week when a good friend of hers in Mexico (Nilda's from a small village in Mexico but lives here now) was kidnapped. She sent out a prayer request, and thank God, our prayers were answered.

Nilda sent this out, and I found the whole concept of living in fear of being kidnapped so foreign, that I asked if I could publish it here.

Some of you have asked questions about kidnappings in Mexico so I just thought I could give you a little information about my country, which you won’t find in the tourism magazines :)

México is a beautiful country; full of warmth and generosity; full of hardworking people, but, as in any other country, there are people who like to find “shortcuts” to wealth; kidnappings have been “the thing” for a long time now; it started in México City, where citizens have been dealing with it for a long time, but recently it started moving to other parts of the country. I will dare say that kidnappings and drug trafficking are two of the worse social problems we face.

The fact that México is the bridge between the USA and many drug producing Latin American countries (like Colombia) has created many Drug Cartels that are in a constant war for territory; I dare say that everyday people are brutally assassinated because of these territorial wars. Believe me, what you see in the movies is little compared to the real problem.

Someone asked me if he got kidnapped because he is a Christian, or because he is a business man. And for what I know, maybe both.

The main reason he got kidnapped is because he is a wealthy business man. But he had been getting threatening phone calls for about six months now. The first call he got he was told that “he was next in line” and that if he wanted to “avoid” being kidnapped he needed to give them 100,000 dollars. He refused and pretty much told them “do what you have to do but I will not give you any money”.

Then he got another call, where he was told the same thing: give us money not to kidnap you. When he refused the guy asked him what made him so brave so as to think that he could actually refuse to pay them any money. When our friend told him he was a Christian and trusted God to protect him the guy went crazy and demanded not to get God involved in this! My friend told him God was already involved and that he wasn’t afraid of him, that nothing could happen to him unless God allowed it and if God would allow it, it would be for a purpose. The guy laughed at him and his God and told him no god would stop him for getting his money.

When they took our friend away, he immediately knew what was going on, so he remained calm during the whole thing. His head was covered when he got to the place where they were keeping him. Then someone asked him if he was the “Christian one” the “halleluiah” one? (halleluiahs is a nickname evangelicals get in México), when he say “Yes, I am a Christian” one of them started taunting him, laughing at him, telling him “see, I told you, no god could protect you……your Jesus failed you…..your God failed you……now just hope your family doesn’t fail you too”.

Wow…..I can’t even imagine what answer my friend could give him, if indeed all seemed as if God had failed to protect him.

Yet he found the strength to say “He didn’t failed me, He wanted me to be here, with you, although I don’t know exactly why just yet”.

And that’s all I know so far. I am anxiously waiting my turn to talk to him and hear all he went thru, but most likely it will be awhile before I can do that.

All by way of saying that México is still beautiful, still warm, still wonderful; most people will embrace you and serve you happily and most everyone will be ready to lend you a hand when you need it. México is a poor country, financially; the ones that get ahead and are able to have a successful business, do so by working hard and dedicating a lifetime, and sometimes a few generations, to hard work and commitment. Too bad that the social problems we face as a nation, along with the deep corruption of the government and its agencies, have created an environment full of leeches, waiting for someone to succeed so they can move in and suck it all up.

Now to some practical advice:

If you go to México, go to well known touristic places like Cancún, Vallarta, Acapulco, Cabo and the such. Don’t go to little known places (and if you go, take me with you so I can help you “navigate” the streets :)

When you get there, don’t venture alone into town, don’t accept a “tour” of the city by anybody, unless is someone form the travel agency or the hotel itself. Always ask for identification. (but since you don’t speak español, you could take me with you and I’ll help you out :)

Don’t flaunt your dollars, your bling-bling, or your credit cards anywhere; if you go to the market take as little money as you can; it is better to go back for something you like than to walk around with tons of things, advertising yourself as a “big shopper”; most likely the vendors will know you have money and sell you things at a higher price and someone else (thieves) would want a piece of you too. You also need to know that thieves work in teams so, while someone might be trying to befriend you, his/her partner will be trying to clean you up. (but since it takes some street savvy to realize that, you could take me with you and I’ll know the difference between friend and foe :)

Can you tell I just want to go to México with you all???

But for now I must go back to my housework and most likely you need to go back to whatever you where doing. Thank you again for your prayers for my friend; and remember: God never fails, even when it all looks lost, He is there, with a purpose.

Love ya!
Nilda.

Love,

Posted in Practical Info | Permalink

Comments

My mother had a friend who returned to her family's village in Mexico every year around Christmas. She would wear her oldest clothes, sew valuables into the waistband and hems, and always left a little "placating" cash easily accessible on her person. Apparently it was known to bandits that the returning visitors would certainly be bringing home cash and presents, and were targeted for robbery, sometimes kidnapping.Thank God all turned out well for your friend's friend.

Of course, there are parts of my own city I would hesitate to linger in.

Posted by: aine | December 6, 2007 3:17 PM

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