On the road in Mexico: Day 3
MEXICO CITY -- I get to meet some pretty impressive people in my line of work. (I also get to meet some unimpressive ones, but we'll leave that for another day.)
Today, I met three of Mexico's thousands of kidnap victims (Officially, there were a thousand kidnaps here last year, but everyone suspects the true figure is much higher). One of them was held captive for three weeks while her family desperately tried to get a ransom together; another was seized for a mere 20 minutes when her taxi-driver's two accomplices leapt into the taxi she was travelling in and stripped her of all her valuables.
Neither comes from a wealthy background, and as you'd expect, they were both deeply traumatised by their experience. Yet they could talk calmly about what happened, in large part, they say, because of the post-trauma counselling they received from Lorena Chavez Martinez of (Mexico United), which offers help to crime victims.
I also met Claudia Wallace. Her 35-year-old brother Hugo was kidnapped four years ago and beaten to death. Since then she and her mother have waged a relentless high-profile campaign against the kidnap gangs. They have been threatened and shot at, and now Claudia lives in her fortress-like home with round-the-clock guards out front and a battery of closed circuit cameras and alarm systems.
My last interview today was with , a Colombian businessman who has discovered that in violent times, there's money to be made in designing and selling bullet-proof fashion clothing. I tried on a rather nice black leather jacket, which he promised would totally protect me against being shot even at close range.
I thought I looked quite good in it, but the price tag was close to $5,000, so I decided to leave it. 
On Friday's programme, I'll be exploring why Mexico has become one of the most violent countries in the world, and what success, if any, the government is having in combating the crime gangs.
Comments