04/24/24
September 02, 2004
Ugie Urbina's mother kidnapped.: 4 men dressed up as police take her from her Venezuela home. This just weeks after Manu Ginobili had extra security at his wedding to ensure none of his family would be kidnapped and ransomed.
Nemo, just another sign of our decadence and fall into barbarism. (Sorry, just having one of those days.)
posted by billsaysthis at 06:26 PM on September 02, 2004
TAKE YOUR FAMILY WITH YOU. As though you could get anyone not making millions into this country anymore. I remember starting prep school @ 14 with a classmate whose father was a judge in Colombia who sent his kids to school abroad to avoid this. Of course, at 14 it just made my life seem even more boring.
posted by yerfatma at 07:37 PM on September 02, 2004
Speaking of Colombia, ever read Mark Bowden's book, "Killing Pablo?" The brazen disregard for the law in Colombia is stunning. Got Legal trouble? Just kill the judge and/or his whole family. They skip the death threats and go straight to murder.
posted by usfbull at 08:20 AM on September 03, 2004
Kidnappings throughout Central and South America aren't just limited to the famous and/or powerful. As long as you've got a name that is established in your city, you're a target. During the two weeks I spent in Honduras with an ex, nothing was more surreal than when a friend of hers came over with his bodyguard. His dad owned a Ford dealership. I've had a veritable ass-ton of friends from Latin America, and it's rare to find any of them without a story. A Brazilian friend who spent a few years in High School in Venezuela was carjacked at gunpoint and forced to drive a guy on some errands throughout Caracas. He thought he was being 'napped, but the guy finally, after about six hours, just had him pull up in an alley and took off. From the information I've gathered from friends, the major problem throughout Latin America is the complete lack of a middle class. You've either got it made or you've got nothing. Not sure what would work as a solution there, though. Speaking of Colombia, ever read Mark Bowden's book, "Killing Pablo?" Said ex-gf's grandmother is Colombian and lived in Medellin, Escobar's hometown. She (the grandmother) reportedly used to hire Pablo to wash her car when he was growing up. That's fucking surreal.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:42 AM on September 03, 2004
Check the glove compartment and the tires.
posted by yerfatma at 10:32 AM on September 03, 2004
Kidnappings throughout Central and South America...the major problem throughout Latin America... I think perhaps you meant "in the following countries" or "in many places", not "throughout".
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:51 AM on September 04, 2004
What is your point? It's not the most eloquent sentence ever, but other than the grammar, what's the problem? The point still made it through.
posted by yerfatma at 02:35 PM on September 04, 2004
yerfatma: it wasn't the grammar, it was the content. Not every country in Latin America is rife with crime.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:37 AM on September 05, 2004
You're right. We should all forget any of this ever happens for fear of someone completely misconstruing Ufez's comment about places he has actually been to as racist slander against Latin America. But what person couldn't get what he meant from context? Point out a country that's never had a kidnapping; prove him wrong.
posted by yerfatma at 10:41 AM on September 05, 2004
lbb, are you sure about that? Which ones are not "rife"? From my moderately well informed Northern perspective there seem to be no exceptions; only changes in the dominant form.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:28 PM on September 05, 2004
Well if an example is warranted then Costa Rica is a good one. But to suggest that Latin America is 'rife' with crime is neither inaccurate nor accurate. The implication is that you are safer here. Yet, more people get shot in the good ol' US of A than any other nation not engaged in a war. 200,000 a year (give or take). Lots of people manage to live in other parts of the world, Venezuela is hardly a bad place. When we're not manipulating the oil supply and conversely the government.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:00 PM on September 05, 2004
Yet, more people get shot in the good ol' US of A than any other nation not engaged in a war. 200,000 a year (give or take). Do you have a source for tat figure? And is it abnormally high per-capita? I know western Europe has a low level of gun violence, but I don't know about the rest of the world.
posted by yerfatma at 04:06 PM on September 05, 2004
lbb, are you sure about that? Which ones are not "rife"? From my moderately well informed Northern perspective there seem to be no exceptions; only changes in the dominant form. Chile represents a significant exception to your image of Latin America. Industrialized, developed, high standard of living, essentially incorruptible police, and a whole lot more fabulous stuff besides. Take a trip there, if you can -- it's the most beautiful country I've ever been to, and I've seen a few.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:14 PM on September 05, 2004
This is happening a lot in South American countries. If you are signed by the NBA, EPL, NFL, WHOMEVER. TAKE YOUR FAMILY WITH YOU. This is getting ridiculous.