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 Entertainment | June 2007 
Kidnapped in Mexic
 Jennifer Litz - sanangelolive.com
| | Dr. Ricardo Ainslie's documentary "Ya Basta!" depicts the psychological turmoil involved in Mexico's kidnappings. |
Kidnappers in Mexico play psychological games with victims’ families to extort hefty ransoms. Abductees are pawns, their limbs no less expendable than a stick figure’s in a game of hangman.
Dr. Ricardo Ainslie’s documentary on kidnappings in Mexico delves into these kidnappings, detailing the emotional turmoil these crimes have cost individuals and the nation. Ainslie’s camera and commentary centers on three kidnapping incidents, and the shoddy “justice” system that perpetuates the situation.
One storyline focuses on a Mexican man who was held hostage for 29 days. His captors took four fingers off his hand in that time, leaving them in various places the criminals would identify in anonymous calls to his family.
“After the first week, they said, ‘the family doesn’t understand. I’ve got to get a finger,’” says Ainslie, a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He says the victim, whom he was later able to interview, remembered the incident’s unbearable pain, and the way his finger giving way sounded like the “snap” of a chicken bone. By the time his captors had taken all four fingers, the man—beaten, but with a tough spirit—shouted, “Hijos de la chingada, why don’t you go ahead and shoot me!”
That man was eventually rescued by Mexico’s Agencia Federal de Investigation, that nation’s version of the FBI. But four years after the incident, his captors have still not been sentenced. Ainslie claims this to be the rather dejecting rule. According to him, only about five percent of kidnappers get caught, and only one in four wind up in prison.
Ya Basta—“Enough”
The film’s title is grounded in more than the fear and anguish wrought over Mexico’s current volatile atmosphere. It’s based on the theme of a demonstration that happened in June 2004 in response to a double kidnapping-murder. Just before the march, the Gutierrez-Moreno brothers, held for $500,000 ransom, had been shot over a gang mix-up.
The brothers’ ransom had already been paid before they were shot. After this debacle, the boys’ parents were assaulted on the way to their funeral.
Rather than let another injustice roll off their backs, concerned citizens used the instance as a bonding tool, forming one of the largest marches in the capitol city’s history.
“There were close to a million people, all protesting the insecurity in Mexico: Mexico Unido Contra La Delinquencia (Mexico United Against Crime),” Ainslie says. “Altogether there were 41 civic groups. It was not a political march; they specifically outlawed any banners. They just wanted to express to the authorities the fact that they had had enough.”
Ainslie says this—“Enough”—was the perfect title for the movie’s theme. “There is a serious problem going on right now in Mexico with all kinds of crime,” he says. “It’s a problem affecting people in all social levels. Kidnapping started out as a problem for wealthy people. But as they [the wealthy] became better equipped, they got protection, armored cars, and [kidnappers] started kidnapping middle class people. Now people are being kidnapped for $50 or $200 dollars.”
Which made doing the documentary dangerous for Ainslie, as well. Though he was born and raised in Mexico City, he now teaches psychology at UT in Austin (Ainslie’s work focuses on ethnic conflicts; one recent book explored the impact on the Jasper, Texas, community after James Byrd Jr. had been drug to his death there by a white man in 1998). Ainslie’s status as an American and the fact that he brought his son along as part of the camera crew made him a bit wary: he says that six or seven journalists have been killed covering kidnappings in Mexico the last couple of years. He also feared for his host families. “I didn’t want to put people in any kind of jeopardy because they were helping me,” he says.
Ainslie kept his project under wraps as long as possible, until he started interviewing authorities. At that point, he says, “the cat was out of the bag”—and he couldn’t rely on law enforcement officials to protect him.
Case in point: one of Ainslie’s core kidnapping stories focuses on Mexico native Roberto Valencia, who had been kidnapped at 18. He had been dumped in a ditch, but made it to a roadside coffee stand, where people escorted him to a police station. The officer who opened the door to him there turned out to be one involved in his kidnapping. Valencia, whose father was killed in ’99 while loading up the car for a Christmas trip, now lives in Brownsville.
First responder Mike Waugh says Mexico is No. 1 in kidnappings worldwide. This is a screenshot of a kidnapping victim in Mexico from the documentary movie "Ya Basta!" (screenshot) “The police are a big part of the problem,” Ainslie says. “There are many instances where police are found to be parts of kidnapping rings.” In Cuernavaca, he says, the head of the anti-kidnapping division of the state police ended up being the leader of a kidnapping gang.
Still, he says, there are good cops. The Mexican FBI, or Agencia Federal de Investigation, is generally better paid and better educated than other law enforcement. Created in 2001, the AFI accounts for a little over one percent of national law enforcement—but kidnappings are now under their domain.
“Basically, the people I interviewed on the march said, [in response to such improvement measures], a few things have changed, but the picture remains in essence the same. In terms of police and the judicial system, there’s not too much change [historically, there are no U.S.-style trials in Mexico]. The judicial system is antiquated, with structures that go back to the inquisition that don’t fit in contemporary society; it doesn’t help you find the truth.”
Mexico’s dire straits haven’t helped, either. “When this stuff started cranking up in the mid ‘90’s, Mexico was in a financial crisis,” Ainslie says. One of his kidnapper interviewees, a “small-time crook” compared to the more sophisticated kidnapping rings, told Ainslie that he made more in two kidnappings than he had made doing burglaries all year.
“One of the kidnappers I have video of talks about ransom—one was like 1.5 million pesos; one, 750,000 pesos,” he says. “But a very wealthy kidnapped person in ’94 was ransomed for $22 million. He was held for six months. They had originally asked for $90 million. There are different levels of organization; people who operate at that level have scouted [their victims] out, and paid off people at banks who would know what potential victims have in their accounts. They’re highly sophisticated organized crime rings. And then there are kidnappers who own a taco stand—they’ll kidnap for $200, $300, $2,000.”
Who is at Risk?
Faulty law enforcement and the promise of quick money has spawned Mexico’s diverse kidnapping culture. Ask Ronald Kimball, a Drug Enforcement Administration officer who retired to armor cars for high-profile clients. Having spent extensive time in Central America during his DEA time, he saw a need for local governments and corporate executives to have the same armored vehicles that US Ambassadors tooled around in
“I decided to start a company, come to San Antonio and do cars for the private sector,” he says. “Our first market in San Antonio was Mexico,” Kimball says. “The market kind of moves around Mexico. Coca Cola distributors, brewers—Dos Equis, Corona—those groups have always been buyers of bulletproof cars.
“The first man assassinated in Mexico, Eugenio Garza Sada, was assassinated in ’73. From ’73 to ’77, I was still a DEA agent—but in ’77, one of my first clients was his son, Eugenio Garza Laguera. He’s still living; 83 or 84, a wonderful man. But you can see how that happens—father to son, to grandson, the threat continues on. I’ve sold three generations of cars to them.”
Kimball’s business—originally Executive Armoring Corporation, now Texas Armoring Corporation, with son Ronald Jr. as owner—currently serves clients worldwide. He has sold cars to former Mexican President Jose-Lopez Portillo; to Rafat al-Assad, brother to the President of Syria; and to a handful of American clients, including L. Ron Hubbard and Ross Perot. But though Kimball says the market in the US for armored cars is limited, his experience as a DEA agent and the feedback he gets from clients inform him that Americans shouldn’t take their safety for granted when traveling in Mexico.
Threats are not only contained to Mexicans, Kimball says, because any passers-through could be the victims of assault—especially if they’re in a nice-looking car—but also because the more sophisticated criminals do their homework, tapping bank employees or other institution personnel for information on potentially juicy victims—like wealthy Mexicans who might happen to be entertaining American guests. “And it is common practice among kidnappers to take females for pleasure, and kids, wives, the elderly, and executives for ransom,” Kimball says.
Mike Waugh is a friend of Kimball. He is a first responder for kidnapping and ransom insurance companies. First responders work with negotiators to broker the return of hostages covered under “K&R” policies, establishing the parameters of a ransom, and making sure hostages stay alive.
Waugh describes a recent border kidnapping with abductors so professional, it was like their victim, an American, had never existed. “It was a kidnap on the Texas border last August, where the victim was taken from his dining room: Rolex on the counter, iced tea glass still sweating on the napkin,” Waugh says. “And his 16-year-old-son came looking for him. Not a trace. He had been taken across the border into Mexico, and it took only three days of negotiation to get him back—plus $1.3 million.”
Mitigating the Threat
Using this border kidnapping as an example, Waugh admonishes American visitors not to be complacent when visiting wealthy friends or family in Mexico. “Americans visiting wealthy Mexicans should be aware that their hosts may be under observation or surveillance by potential kidnappers,” he says. “Americans and Mexicans should avoid the appearance of wealth.”
Kimball agrees. “Kidnappers choose their victims carefully from those that they suspect are friendly to law enforcement, or those they suspect might be working for the government, either directly or indirectly. They choose for financial or political gain. Or they may choose for publicity reasons, to prove the point that they really are ‘untouchable.’”
For those set on Mexico during vacation, Kimball and Waugh have instructions: Dress casually, in Levi’s and tennis shoes. “If you’re in Mexico a lot, take a look at what locals wear, and dress like them,” Waugh says. Don’t wear jewelry. Don’t keep credit cards or money in a wallet or purse. “Put your driver license, one credit card, and your cash in your front pocket,” Waugh says. “Pickpockets are good.” The two also advise against what they call “Ugly American” behavior, which attracts undue attention. Don’t haggle too loudly with street vendors, or for an extended period of time.
Don’t cross the border in an upscale European import or a luxurious SUV. “Japanese imports attract less attention,” Kimball says. “Do not leave your windows down on your vehicle while stopped in traffic or at a red light. Watch out for motorcycle riders that may distract on one side of the vehicle, while another attempts to enter from the other side.”
The popularity of “Express Kidnappings,” those quick car assaults for smaller amounts of money, spur Waugh to recommend simply walking—but not at night, and always with company. “Common criminals will take a person for a short period of time to take whatever personal possessions they might have, including taking you to an ATM near midnight to drain cash allowances on credit cards, then repeating the drill again just after midnight when the banking date changes, thereby allowing further withdrawals.”
Waugh stresses self-awareness at all times when traveling in Mexico. “Be alert at all times. Know who is in front of you, coming your way, or following you. Walk with a purpose; if you look like you’re dawdling, or doing anything that makes you look like you have low self-esteem, you’re a target.”
Anyone who is unfortunate enough to be the victim of a kidnapping should try his or her best to stay calm, quiet, and observant. “Attempt casual conversation—avoid being friendly, and certainly not overly so,” Waugh says. “Kidnapping is serious business; how you behave has a serious impact on how you are treated. You are a commodity and part of a business, political, or social negotiation.”
He underscores this point with the case of a Guatemalan industrialist’s 18-year-old daughter, who was kidnapped from her vehicle on her way to school. She had written her abductor’s license plate number on her notebook, which had been recovered with her car.
“I interviewed her,” Waugh says. “She was kept in a tent on a sandy area with lights outside to mimic night/day conditions. Not until she was released 85 days and $2.6 million later did she realize that the tent was in a warehouse, and that she was being fooled into whether it was day or night.
“It was clear that she was treated well in terms of her living conditions, but it became evident that she had been sexually abused by her kidnappers. She kept herself mentally busy by remembering family members, outings, thinking about her university courses, and using her imagination.” |
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