Here’s what some Mexicans are doing to protect themselves against a nation-wide rise in kidnapping. They’re driving to work with a life-sized dummy in the passenger seat. They’re storing a cell phone and water in the car trunk – in case that’s where they end up.
Mexicans say they have had enough of the violent crime wave, police corruption, and they’re cynical about the government’s promises to crack down on the crooks. In the largest demonstration in public memory, last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people jammed the streets of Mexico City, silently marching in protest. There are now calls from voters and politicians for the reinstatement of the death penalty, but Mexicans aren’t ready to rely on the justice system when the police are so directly implicated in crime.
Guests:
Arturo Alvarado, Fulbright Fellow and Professor of Sociology at El Colegio de Mexico
Dolly Mascarenas, Time Magazine’s Mexico City reporter
Robert Varenik, co-founder of the Institute for Security and Democracy in Mexico City and criminal justice law consultant in Latin America.