I’ve been procrastinating for the past few days about writing this story but here I am again, keeping it going somehow!!

Before I move on to the central topic I just wanted to make a point about a heated conversation I had on the topic of security in Mexico with two people closely related to me. Both guys live in the UK and, to my understanding, they think that many ´well informed´ people in Mexico exaggerate when they say that this country is ruled by insecurity, or when people talk about the amount of killings which are carried out on a daily basis for one or another reason, the disappearances, the list of issues is too long…

My feeling is that when someone has never been a victim of such heinous crimes, it’s easy to say that everything flows with normality in Mexico. I strongly believe that we need to be more empathetic to one another in order to be compassionate and show solidarity, regardless of whether we have been a victim of an injustice or not.

In fact, injustices are committed closer than we think. Just two days ago, a friend of mine who lives in Mexico City told me that his friend was killed at gun point in the middle of the afternoon in his neighbourhood. According to some sources it was ‘La Union’ that carried out the killing to try and wipe out competition in the area. Their objective is to take control of the drug trade in Iztapalapa and apparently, killings have been taking place in my friend’s area week after week. 

Another friend also told me that less than a week ago, a girl friend of his was traveling on public transport to the north of Mexico City, in the Estado de Mexico. Two criminals boarded the bus and fired two bullets in her stomach for simply not handing over more of her possessions to them. The victim is currently in hospital being treated for her wounds.

That is just a small account of what happens in this country, where injustices remain ‘invisible’ to many people. 

So, back to the topic. I hung out with Abril on Saturday, right before the march started to protest against the huge hike in gasoline prices.

A few years back she was a victim of what in Mexico is called the ´Express Kidnap´. The crime consists of abducting a person for a few minutes or hours while he/she strips off his/her belongings. Otherwise, the criminals will call a family member to extort them. In some cases, if they abduct a woman, she can potentially be sexually assaulted.

Abril was late to her meeting that day so she decided to stop a taxi at around peak hours in the Portales area, located in the south of the city.

Abril boarded the taxi and suddenly noticed that the taxi driver moving to the edge of the road to let a second man into the car. At that point, she obviously knew that things were absolutely wrong.

The men started harassing her and searched her hand bag. She kept receiving punches in her head from which she has not recovered to this day. During the assault, they told her that they were not going to rape her so she did not have to worry about that.

At some point during the nightmarish journey which lasted no more than 30 minutes, they told her to get out of the taxi quickly and walk 10 steps ahead without turning her head round.

She did as she was told. A few minutes later, she called her boyfriend to let him know what had just happened to her. 

Abril told me that for the next 2 weeks or so she did not want anybody to touch her at all. She was left partially traumatized by that terrible experience. Today she tells me this without any apparent psychological scars.

To make matters even worse, Abril suddenly remembered that a day after her abduction, her ex-boyfriend’s family received a call from an unknown individual who alleged that he had kidnapped Miguel, the ex-boyfriend’s brother.  

Miguel had gone on a camping trip to the outskirts of Mexico City. There was no way to prove whether he had been kidnapped or not as there was no telephone signal where he went camping. 

In the end, the family was able to find out that it was all just a scam carried out by a nasty individual who wanted to extort the family.

As we were about to finish our chat, Abril mentioned another instance when her ex boyfriend’s Dad, whom I shall refer to as David, suffered a similar misfortune some 20 years ago.

He was driving his taxi in the middle of the day when three men, who looked like soldiers, hopped in and started threatening him. They proceeded to tie up David´s entire body with gaffer tape and locked him in the car´s boot. 

He did not have a clue where they were taking him. During the journey, he was able to look through a tiny gap and spotted a police car driving behind. Somehow he was able to break the lock and open the boot. He then dropped onto the ground and the police intervened immediately. 

They chased the criminals and managed to intercept two of them. The police arrested them and they were sent to prison, although throughout the entire trial, the two crooks claimed total innocence…

Abril is a determined girl with a strong personality. She does not let people mess with her but she is nice and kind at the same time. She is football fanatic and supports, the Pumas of the UNAM. She enjoys going to see the team play at the stadium. She is also a conscious person who will try her very best to help people in need. 

After the long chat we all marched towards the city centre to let the president of this country know that we are sick and tired of him…