Job Discussion Forums

[dixie]

[john_n_carolina]

doesn't Mexico have 30 states / provinces? that would be 30 people per province per day...maybe more in the North...might be possible, Mexico does have 120 million people

[john_n_carolina]

...one theory, i was just thinking about...maybe, some of the people kidnapped were faking their own disappearance? in other words, they weren't actually even kidnapped....maybe, their cousin reported them kidnapped, but they were actually on their way North?

[gypsygirl1475]

I've heard that alot of the kidknappings in Mexico were for body organs. My hubby said that people kidknap other people to take there organs and sell them. He said that it has been an ongoing issue for the government for some years now and that the organ knappings make just as much if not more money than most large drug deals. Who knows...

[Guy Courchesne]

One way the numbers get high is due to the way they count cases. Most 'kidnappings' aren't kidnappings at all, but armed robberies, often in taxis. Fairly common in the state of Mexico, neighbouring DF. The Feds wanted t clamp down on such crime, so they started to prosecute on kidnap charges, which carry a higher maximum sentence than simply armed robbery.

[gypsygirl1475]

Last year here in the states, my roommate needed a kidney transplant. He was not aproved do to his lifestyle and was put on a long waiting list, by the time his name would have come up he would have been dead. But his very, very rich brother made a big fuss, and a huge donation to the hospital, then, poof, the kidney showed up. The kidney was shipped in from somewhere, but when I inquired they clammed up. There was a big ordeal at the hospital and when several other patients families found out it crazy. I don't know what happened after that. Who knows...

Know one knows but the ones that do the crimes and the government officials covering it up for some reason or another.

Crime is everywhere and I still say that it is safer in Mexico than in the States.

[notamiss]

[MixtecaMike]

Be Afraid. Be VERY afraid!

[veroax]

First off, I apologize for any unseemly generalizations�..

It seems to me that expats in Latin America tend to fall into two different camps on the safety issue. The first camp holds that Latin America isn�t really more dangerous than elsewhere, and that what dangers exist can be easily avoided by not smoking crack and avoiding pirate taxis in Mexico City�the big no-brainers. They essentially feel that it is a non-issue, and they get cranky when someone suggests that Latin America is dangerous. Characterizing Mexico as dangerous is the result of ignorance and bad journalism.

The second group says that Latin America does indeed have a high crime rate, beyond that of the States, Canada, etc. They feel that there is more danger in Latin America, but that they can mitigate those risks to the point that they can live here comfortably. They don�t look over their shoulders every other minute. I doubt many would stay if they did. But they do feel that crime in this part of the world is an issue that merits special attention.

Both groups acknowledge that much of your safety depends on your own behavior and decision-making. But they differ on how to characterize crime in Latin America. It might not be popular on this board, but I find myself in the second category. Although I realize that crime has been escalating in the States, I just don�t see that things are better off south of the border.

Am I worried about turning up dead by the train tracks? Clearly, no I�m not. I would have moved to Japan by now if I did. But the fact that most foreign English teachers can live comfortably without constant fear, doesn�t really mean all that much about the state of crime in Mexico. My feeling safe and the existence of a widespread problem are not mutually exclusive. I think that saying crime isn�t much of a problem in Mexico does a disservice to people who live in more precarious situations that some foreign English teachers.

[MELEE]

You forgot the ones who are paranoid and in constant fear, certain that they are living on borrowed time--but stay here anyways.

[Samantha]

I don�t know any like that. I find just the opposite, with some exhibiting a false sense of security, doing things and going places they wouldn't do up north because "it feels so safe here".

[veroax]

I haven�t happened across many of the paranoid types either. But I do imagine that there are some out there.