Kidnapping Reaction

Mexico's frustration over rampant kidnapping is boiling over in the wake of the abduction and murder of Fernando Martí. Excelsior ran a long story today about businessmen fleeing the country because of fears of abduction. Grupo Imagen has an online poll that show that 80 percent of respondents would leave Mexico if they could because of personal security fears. The Federal Preventative Police created a kidnapping unit the starts operating today, with 300 officers to be deployed to the areas suffering the highest rate of abductions. Congressional groups from all three major parties are analyzing possible legislative changes that could make the nation more secure. Citizens groups are planning a march on August 30th in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City, where collectively about a third of the nation resides. This kind of society-wide unanimity and sense of purpose is pretty rare. One can only hope that something concretely postive comes of it.