Brutal Wave of Kidnappings Sparking Protests Across Latin America

[CShine]

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Joshua Sierra's family wasn't rich. They lived in an apartment on Mexico City's gritty east side and hardly fit the mold of the affluent foreigners who have so often fallen prey to kidnappers. But on a summer day last year, 2-year-old Joshua disappeared. The abduction falls into a troubling trend taking hold across Latin America: Kidnappers are becoming more reckless, more brutal, and more random about whom they choose to snatch off the streets.

"Once they get you, they tend to be more violent, because they don't really have any coherent idea of how much money you have, or where you keep it," said Frank Holder, former head of Latin American operations for risk management company Kroll Inc. "They may decide to torture you to get that information."

Revulsion over such abductions sparked a week of protests this month by housewives in Mexico, while a fatal kidnapping in Argentina led tens of thousands to demonstrate in the streets of Buenos Aires in April. A similar mass rally is being held Sunday in Mexico City. Joshua's story is a chilling illustration of the new tactics. When the kidnappers seized the boy from his apartment, they left behind the strangled corpse of the toddler's 15-year-old cousin. The family scraped together a $10,000 ransom for Joshua, but the boy has not been returned.

"We just want them to return Joshua," said the boy's aunt, Yolanda Torres. "We have hopes that he is still alive."

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