The citizens of Mexico have a historic gathering happening this Saturday on the issue of security in their country. Fed up with the state of lawlessness in a nation where kidnappings are an everyday occurrence, a grassroots, citizens group called Iluminemos Mexico (We Illuminate Mexico) has organized a silent protest march in the capital city of Mexico. The group is expecting about one million people to participate following, in particular, one recent case of a fourteen year-old boy named Fernando Martí who was kidnapped and murdered even after his family paid for his ransom. An open letter from irate citizen Bernardo Graue Toussaint to Marti’s kidnappers and the Mexican authorities who did nothing to save him was recently published in Mexican newspaper El Economista and edited for swears. Guanabee media obtained the original letter and we’ve excerpted the dramatic opening for our readers:

Señores secuestradores

Autoridades capitalinas Presentes

[Kidnappers, Present Authorities of The Capital]

En junio pasado, el niño Fernando Martí fue secuestrado por ustedes, hijos de puta, en un acto que ninguna autoridad impidió.

[This past June, the child Fernando Martí was kidnapped by you sons of bitches in an act that not one authority sought to impede.]

Ustedes, hijos de puta, ejecutaron a los escoltas que custodiaban al menor.

[You, sons of bitches, executed the guardians who escorted the minor.]

Ustedes, hijos de puta, cobraron el rescate pagado por los familiares.

[You, sons of bitches, were paid a ransom by his family.]

Ustedes, hijos de puta, asesinaron al pequeño Fernando. Era un niño, un niño de tan sólo 14 años de edad.

[You, sons of bitches, assassinated young Fernando. He was a child, a child only 14 years of age.]

The letter goes on to succinctly articulate the dire situation in the state of Mexico.

Y así está todo en la ciudad: en constante deterioro. En la capital de la República te asaltan, te violan, te secuestran o te asesinan porque, simplemente, no hay quien lo impida. Así es.

[And that’s how everything is in the city: in constant deterioration. In the capital of the Republic they mug you, rape you, kidnap you or murder you because, quite simply, no one will stop them. That’s how it is.]

Here’s wishing them godspeed. The march begins at 7PM Saturday, August 30th in Mexico City. The route begins in Reforma and goes from the Angel of Independence to the Zocalo at the center of town.

Carta a secuestradores y autoridades [El Economista]
¡Sordos! [La Prensa]
Súmate [Iluminemos Mexico]