As a person who has traveled in Mexico every year since the late 60s, and currently lives in Mexico for 10 months out of the year (and has for nine consecutive years), I have to tell you that the direction that Mexico is going in is finally disturbing me, too.
Please dont try and compare US violent crime rates with those in Mexico. It's just plain silly. Per capita murders is the only meaningful comparison (though many organizations WITHIN Mexico say violent crime is very underreported) and Mexico is far and away ahead of the US. Yes, there are very dangerous cities in the US, just like there are in Mexico.
Kidnappings really are rampant in Mexico. It is also one of the most underreported crimes in Mexico as people try to pay the ransom.
In the US, kidnappings are ridiculously rare. Think about how often you hear about a kidnapping in the US that is not a family member kidnapping another family member. Just so rare.
There are THOUSANDS each year in Mexico, and those are the reported ones.
