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Sunday, 09 August 2009 (News)

Antonio Ortega, president of the Citizen Council, warns kidnappings more than double

Mexico City, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The Citizens' Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice suggested that the Summit of the Americas signed the Guadalajara Initiative "to support the fight against criminals who cause violence in the country by kidnapping and extortion.

In a media conference, the president of the Council, José Antonio Ortega, said that in 2008 there were 128,000 high-impact reported kidnappings, and warned that the trend moved sharply upward this year, with more than 300,000 possible, "he said.

In this regard, during a meeting conducted in a hotel in Mexico City, Ortega Sanchez and President Felipe Calderón called for dismantling the groups of kidnappers and apply the full weight of law.

He added that the agreements between the governments of North America must be based on facts with respect to the violation of human rights and security that we have as Mexicans, as well as people of other nations: the abduction and injuries of thousands of Mexicans and the threat to foreigners.

For that reason he called the U.S. President Barack Obama, the prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, and the president of the Mexican state, Felipe Calderón, to end the violence in Mexico and stop the kidnappings and extortion.

He warned that this violencecan extend to the other two nations and if they did not work together to stop the problem in Mexico, "you have too little defenses not to be invaded by kidnappers, blackmailers and a wave of violence," predicted Ortega Sanchez.