Arturo had to leave the place where he grew up after a traumatic experience in Mexico, now he has a new opportunity in North America.
By Nayeli Martín del Campo / @NinjeliSaya (X) / @naye_ye_ye (IG)
The kidnapping of Arturo, a pseudonym used to protect the interviewee’s identity, led him to make the most important decision of his life, to immigrate to a new country in North America. Arturo is originally from Jalisco and at the age of 30, on a family trip to Aguascalientes, he was kidnapped by the cartel.
“I remember that we were on our way to Aguascalientes because we had a wedding, it was the wedding of one of my cousins and we all went by car. We didn’t think we were going to be kidnapped on the way, far from it. We had no other intention than to have fun.”
Arturo and his family decided to take a route that would take them to Yahualica, Villa Hidalgo and then Aguascalientes, where they would buy clothes and some souvenirs for the future married couple, but on the way, near the municipality of Teocaltiche, they would be intercepted by a vehicle that would block their way to Aguascalientes.
“We had already heard that Teocaltiche was a dangerous place but we decided to go that way because the truth is that we were not in trouble, we had no problems with anyone and it was the only route we had to cross from Yahualica to Villa Hidalgo, Jalisco. Nobody expects to be kidnapped. On the contrary, we entrusted ourselves to God to get there safely.
In recent years the level of violence in the municipality of Teocaltiche, Jalisco has increased due to the territorial dispute between cartels. Armed confrontations, displacement of communities and kidnappings are some of the cases that have been registered in this place.
“When they intercepted us, they closed in on us on one of the stretches of the highway and with guns in hand.They asked us to get out of our cars. They covered our faces and took us to I don’t know where. There they held us captive for several days. It was a week where they beat us and tortured us to ask for information about someone else. That’s when we realized that they had mistaken us for someone else”.
Arturo was one of the people who have been found alive. According to the Registro Estatal de Personas Desaparecidas en Jalisco, from December 2018 to August 31, 2024, 16,951missing persons have been located, of which, 5,464 were identified as women and 11,487 persons identified as men.
Specifically in the town of Yahualica, 14 people are reported missing, 11 alive and 3 dead. In the same place, 33 people are reported missing, 31 men and two women.
In the case of Teocaltiche, where Arturo was abducted, 31 people were reported missing, 29 alive and two dead, and 59 people are still missing.
Not only the number of people deprived of their freedom is alarming, according to the Reporte de México Evalúa, during the year 2021, 95.4% of the crimes investigated in Jalisco, remained unpunished. 100% of the cases related to forced disappearance and kidnapping remained without an effective resolution, as well as 99.7% of those related to extortion and intentional homicides.
After several hours of Arturo being held, his relatives filed a complaint with the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office to begin an investigation with the hope of finding him alive.
Arturo assures that devotion saved his life. Constant prayers to St. Jude Thaddeus and after explaining to his captors that he was not who they thought and that he had no connection to his captors, he was released after a week of capture. With bone fractures, bruises and psychological damage, he was reunited with his family.
“When I returned home I was traumatized. I still have nightmares even though I took therapy and everything. And that’s when I decided, because I really couldn’t even go out in the street because I was so scared, that I had to move to another country or to another place where I could feel fulfilled, where I felt I was safe, and that’s why I came to Canada. Here I have found tranquility although sometimes I still have my moments of crisis. I don’t think those will ever go away.”
Although Arturo has found calm in Canada, it is not a place he would like to call home despite the increase of violence in Jalisco and different states of the Mexican Republic.
Insecurity rates in the country have exponentially increased the number of refugee applications in Canada. During the year 2023, 17% of the applications were made by Mexicans, that is, 25,236, according to data from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD).
Of these total cases, the Immigration and Refugee Commission of Canada rejected 60% of them, that is, 2,894 applicants have refugee status, 2,424 applications were rejected, 1,240 applications were rejected, and 28,165 applications remained pending as of December 31, 2023.
To apply for asylum as a refugee in Canada it is necessary to undergo various medical tests, report a criminal record, security and other information, as well as provide personal and biometric information.n some cases, there is a risk that if rejected the country could prohibit entry to Canada for the applicant and his family and even deportation.
“I am not sure I want to live here forever. I have my job and I am doing well, but also in Mexico I have all my family and although many people have told me that I might be able to apply to the refugee program, I am not interested. There are many risks involved in applying for refugee status and I would not like to be deported”.
The wave of violence sweeping the country has had repercussions not only in the way people relate to each other, according to the Summary of the Peace Index in Mexico, the economic impact of violence in the country was 4.9 trillion pesos, that is 245 billion US dollars, which equates to 19.8% of the national GDP.
The same report states that during 2023 alone, the number of missing persons reached a new high, reaching 12,000 cases.29.1% of which identified as women, the highest percentage ever reported in Mexican history.
Arturo currently lives with his family in Canada and works in the construction industry. Although he performs activities he never thought he would do, he has found a peace in this country that he never thought he could.
