The Fernando Marti case: Presidents on alert **

In Mexico City it's smart to be more wary of cops than of regular hoodlums. Here's why. The 14-year-old son of a very rich man was discovered decomposing in a car trunk last week. One police commander has been arrested in connection to the murder, and more than a dozen other officials are under investigation for possible links to a kidnapping ring. Details:

Authorities have released almost no information about the Marti case. But according to press reports, Fernando was riding in a car with a driver and a bodyguard on June 4 when the group was pulled over by men who they thought were police. Armed men killed the adults at the scene and abducted the boy. One press report said the family paid $6 million for the boy's release and waited in agony after the kidnappers stopped communicating with them.

Fernando Marti's killers were apparently members of a ring known as La Flor. On Tuesday night, President Felipe Calderon attended a memorial Mass for Marti, the latest of who knows how many kidnapping/murder victims here. Many uncounted peoples are kidnapped, ransomed, and (still) killed every year in Mexico. But Fernando Marti's father Alejandro is a well-known founder of chains of sporting goods stores and gyms. High-profile police officers are implicated. Exceptions must be made ...

* Previously, "Leaving Tijuana: Everyone is doing it."

Comments

[DiDi]

this really hits me hard... now before going back to my hometown of Tijuana I have think twice everytime there is a reason to visit.. or when I visit my friends.. en el DF I have watch my back literally... and really believe what people say to me.."No te confíes de nadie.. ten cuidado".. .... it's overwhelming... I don't have millions but the scary truth is that no one is safe anywhere anymore..

[Daniel H.]

You're right... It's pretty awful, overall. We'll see how this story develops in the coming days, it's getting "political."

[Jorge Silva]

This comes because it happend to someone who had money, 100's of people get kidnapped everyday in Mexico, but since they don't have any "real money" the goverment is not interested........The noise is because the kidnapped family is friends with the Mexican political elite...

[Roverworld]

The other kidnap victims by this gang were all released.
Part of the reason they killed the boy is precisely because he is a minor. A book I once read by "Vazconcelos", a famous philosopher and political writer of the 1920s-1940s called the "Robachicos" (The Child Kidnapers) precisely ventures into the kidnapping of minors for ransom, you can let go an adult but not a minor, he is more liable (in the opinion of the kidnaper) to speak, the worst part is this generalization by criminals doesn't really make sense since an adult is more liable to speak, except perhaps an older victim will take threats to the family seriously while a kid won't or at least his family will pressure him into talking about his/her kidnappers.
A movie called Alpha Dog speaks about this very point, even though they end up befriending the victim, a 15 year old boy, by making his abduction "fun" by literally letting him enjoy himself in a party like atmosphere, they kill the boy since they need to keep him silent even though he had decided not to talk.

[Ernesto Pineyro]

The corruption in Mexico has its root in the political system. Many of the acts of corruption have vengeful and retaliation motivation. What do you expect that a poor Mexican policeman. mailman, soldier and the like, feels and think when he knows that a diputado or senador makes $10,000.00 dlls. a month jut by sitting five or six hours a week at la Camara, and besides does nothing. That he or she travels around the world with full paid expenses. That he or she gets soft interest loans unavailable to most Mexicans. That they get luxury automobiles at special discount prices, and that they eat escargots, giant steaks, lobster and flaunder at restaurants drinking Champagne, Cognac and other delicacies? The reasoning of the general population is, if they, the politicos do so, why can't I make my life easier? Many people with a poor cognitive development and low moral maturity decide to act in the easiest way to satisfy their needs. The Church, the educational system, the mass media, specially television, the government and the political parties and institutions are all responsible for the decomposition of Mexican society. Millions of Mexican boys or adolescents go to sleep every night with an empty stomach and the teachings of the telenovelas, where they watche every day behavioral models completly disfunctional but succesful, and its very well known that during sleep the human brain fixes the information observed and recollected in the previous day.

[Daniel H.]

Ernesto. Deep insights, yes, there is an bottomless well of soft social chaos in Mexico, that has a lot to do with the soaring levels of delinquency, I think. More later ...

[humberto de la rosa]

I agree with most of you. The only good thing about all of the kidnapping of poor fernando is that now his father, alejandro marti, will seek revenge and probably be of good help due to the number of political figures and wealthy men he knows. He should ask help from these people and aid the few non-corrupt officials out there make a difference. Suerte Alejandro.

[urban memo]

That hits a hot spot with me. My uncle who lives in Sonora, Mexico has been kidnapped twice.

The last time he was found in a forrest, blind folded and tied to a tree.

[Jorge]

Im a Mexican citizen that now lives in Canada, and no, I did not move because I felt unsafe, even if I filled every qualifications needed to be a kidnapping victim.

It is really sad that these types of news are what my country is famous for. More over, It really hurts me knowing that many Mexican families have to go through this nightmare.

Sure, some people will say that this is the result of income inequality and social injustice in Mexico. Yet, the reality is that the ransoms these guys gets are more than enough for them to live at least 5 years of pure luxury and even more.
Therefore, I can only conclude that they do this out of greed and evil?. If they were really that hungry why would they torture someone and then kill them?

And what happens when we finally get this guys into prison? Oh,.. we just give em blankets, roof, meals, exercise and even a job.
While the honest poor working Mexican works hard on the fields without knowing that tomorrow morning his prison guard will come and serve him breakfast.

Death penalty for these type of crime?? I think these bastards deserve to get exactly what they did

[michelle]

i am so sad to say that my aunt was recently kidnapped from liverpool mall in mexico. her kidnappers asked my uncle to pay a total of about 100,000 US dollars for the "safe" return of my aunt to the family that loved her so...a young son, daughter grandchild, and grandaughter to be born in November.....despite desperate efforts to collect this money,my aunt was hung...her body thrown from a moving vehicle on a mexican carretera....how can such cruelty, hate, and complete disregard for a human being..a precious life.. exist?...we live in a world of complete ignorance until someone we love is taken from us..the only question i can ask as I am haunted by the questions that plague my mind...Was she scared???how long did she suffer???how can money turn a person into a cold-blooded killer? What made them this way?? The only question I truly want answers to is this...WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?????? rest in peace , descansa en paz tia....

[Daniel H.]

That's an awful account, michelle. Thank you for sharing and I hope your family can find peace after such a tragedy..

[Jorge]

Thank you for sharing michelle. I hope we as a whole world get more into the "being" instead of the "having". Putting more emphasis in being a honest and good person instead of having a lot of jewerly for example.

I'm really worry about all of this insecurity in mexico. I want to help to end this.

ALL THAT CRIME AND INDIFFERENCE MUST STOP NOW!