Kidnappings in Mexico may break “record”

In the last four years and ten months, there's been 6,235 kidnappings in Mexico , which exceed the 4,955 registered for the same period during the administration of Felipe Calderón; however, the upwards tendency of this crime could well surpass the 6,582 kidnappings which took place during the administration of the former National Action Party (PAN) president.

The director of the National Citizen Observatory, Francisco Rivas, said the insecurity situation the country is living could “break the record” of kidnappings during the current administration.

He recalled that 2013 was the worst year in the history of Mexico for this crime, and warned that we could go back to those levels, despite the considerable effort of the anti-kidnapping units of local governments.

He said authorities are not attacking the financial structures of these criminal groups which allow the kidnappers to regroup and continue operating despite the number of members arrested.

“I think we'll continue with this problem during the remainder of this administration because we haven't seen a change in the security strategy that can make us believe we'll have greater control of the territory,” Rivas said.

In January 2014, given the increase of kidnapping cases, Enrique Peña Nieto created the National Commission against Kidnapping (CONASE) and according to this organization, the Federal Government allocated MXN$2, 268 billion this year to fight this crime.

Nevertheless, Miranda de Wallace claims local governments have failed because of a lack of investment in the training of anti-kidnapping units.

The activist has asked the Federal Government to focus its efforts on the states of T amaulipas, State of Mexico, Veracruz, Guerrero, Mexico City, Tabasco, and Michoacán – which have the highest kidnapping rates.

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