MEXICO:
Crime-Ridden City Where
Anything Goes - And
Frequently Does
By Diego Cevallos
MEXICO CITY, (IPS)
- "Keep your heads down,
close your eyes and put
your hands on your
knees, bitches," said
the man who climbed into
the old taxi, holding up
the couple inside at
gunpoint. Seconds later
another man joined him,
wielding a butcher’s
knife. Another armed
robbery in the Mexican
capital was under way.
The victims had taken
the taxi in the historic
centre of Mexico City,
disregarding the
standard warning: "never
stop a taxi in the
street, especially at
night." The old-model
Volkswagen sedan drove
for about 15 minutes
with the passengers on
board before stopping at
a traffic light to let
the assailants in.
María and Fabián had
never been the victims
of an armed robbery. But
their experience that
December night has made
them part of the
statistics of the
capital, where three out
of 10 people say they
have been victims of a
crime, although only one
person out of 10 reports
it, according to
surveys.
They did not report the
incident either, because
they thought it would be
futile to do so.
They were driven around
with their assailants
for several hours, while
their wallet and purse
were emptied and their
watches, rings and
jackets were taken from
them. They were insulted
and asked all sorts of
questions before they
were released, but the
victims felt fortunate
not to have been beaten
or sexually assaulted,
as has happened in other
cases.
In Mexico City proper,
which is home to nine
million of the 20
million people living in
Greater Mexico City, 409
crimes a day were
reported in 2006,
according to Security
Ministry figures for the
capital, which has been
governed since 1997 by
the leftwing Democratic
Revolution Party (PRD).
From January to August
2007, an average of 444
crimes a day were
reported. Although high,
these figures are hailed
by the authorities as an
achievement, as in 1994
the number of crimes
reported in the capital
averaged 770 a day.
The Citizens’ Institute
for Studies on
Insecurity (ICESI),
which carries out an
annual survey of local
residents, says that
only 10 percent of
crimes committed in the
capital are reported.
Hence, ICESI estimates
the real number of
crimes at 4,090 a day in
2006, and 4,440 a day in
the first eight months
of 2007.
According to ICESI,
which is supported by
business associations
and the National
Autonomous University of
Mexico (UNAM), on
average 1.6 crimes a
year are perpetrated
against each victim in
the capital city.
Nearly 65 percent of
crimes involve different
kinds of theft:
pickpocketing,
purse-snatching or
mugging of pedestrians,
burglary, car theft,
bank robbery, etc. The
rest are kidnappings,
sexual assaults and
armed robberies.
ICESI, the Employers’
Confederation (COPARMEX)
and security experts say
that more than 90
percent of the crimes
reported in Mexico City
go unpunished.
The Mexican capital is
"a monster which is
resistant to any and
every security programme,
above all because of the
mixture of corruption,
violence and poverty in
which a large proportion
of the population is
steeped on a daily
basis," private security
consultant Saúl Méndez
told IPS.
María and Fabián, who
did not wish to give
their surnames, told IPS
that one of the men who
held them up in the taxi
wore a suit and tie and
had his hair cut in the
style typical of police
officers.
But between them they
were unable to agree on
the colour of the man’s
suit, or whether he was
indeed wearing a tie.
"In such a threatening
situation you get
nervous and your vision
goes cloudy," said María.
After the men boarded
the taxi, the victims
heard them tell the
driver to go along a
fast highway and not to
stop. After taking all
their belongings, the
men pushed the victims
out of the vehicle in a
dark, deserted street.
Mexico City has a fleet
of about 110,000 taxis,
30,000 of which have no
official permits or
registration. Some of
the irregular taxis are
linked in an
organisation headed by
José Quintero, the
brother of the city
government’s Minister of
Roads and Transport
Armando Quintero.
Quintero’s organisation
openly supports the PRD.
In 2007, the local
government instituted a
programme aimed at the
so-called "pirate
taxis", under which upon
payment of a sum of
money and inspections of
their vehicles, they
would be legally
authorised to work.
The associations of
regular taxis protested
the measure, but they
were ignored.
"There are many ways to
breed crime, and one of
them is to tolerate
illegality. Taxis in
this city know that
eventually they will be
legalised, so it doesn’t
matter if they’re
working as ‘pirates’.
The same thing happens
with taxpayers who
haven’t paid their
taxes, because later on
their debts are forgiven
or they’ll get a
discount plan," said
Méndez.
"Here in the capital,
we’re not in the habit
of fulfilling any of our
obligations, and that
increases the chances of
crossing the line into
crime," said the private
security consultant.
Over the past 10 years,
city authorities have
implemented dozens of
programmes to improve
security, including
police training, weapon
upgrades, increased
patrols, setting up
video cameras in public
places and offering
bonuses to law
enforcement agents who
stand out.
In 2002 and 2003, the
city government paid
Rudolph Giuliani, a
former mayor of New York
(1994-2001) who is now
running for the
Republican Party
nomination as
presidential candidate
for this year’s
elections in the U.S.,
for advice on security
matters.
Giuliani won fame -- or
notoriety -- for his
controversial "Zero
Tolerance" programme
against crime in New
York while he was mayor.
But such intolerance is
alien to Mexico City,
where crime continues to
spread terror among the
population.
"Being robbed in a taxi
is the least of all
worries. Rape, murder,
and other terrible
crimes are happening,"
said Fabián.
"This city is crazy, now
they’re even legalising
pirate taxi drivers, and
one of them could be the
driver who robbed us,"
he complained.
The capital city’s
Public Security Ministry
announced that this year
it will instal 8,000
more surveillance
cameras in the most
crime-ridden areas of
the city, and in places
frequented by tourists.
He also said that
residents’ opinions
would be sought about
their local police, who
would only receive
incentive payments if
they score well in the
surveys.
Premises used for
criminal activities such
as selling drugs and
stripping stolen cars
will be expropriated. An
electronic crime
database containing 70
million pieces of
information will also be
set up. The system will
be capable of monitoring
every person arrested by
the police, and tracking
whether they have been
tried, imprisoned or set
free.
Earlier crime control
programmes will also be
reinforced, and
coordination between
local and federal police
will be improved.
According to Mexico City
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard,
the city government will
continue to emphasise
social action, providing
help for the poor, the
unemployed and young
people. That is the best
strategy against crime,
he said.
"Ebrard is right, in the
long term the fight
against poverty will
reduce crime, but
meanwhile there will
continue to be hundreds
of thousands of crime
victims in this city,
which is immune to plans
for tighter security,"
Méndez said. |
