I Was Kidnapped by a Drug Cartel in Mexico and Survived

Summary

Summary of "I Was Kidnapped by a Drug Cartel in Mexico and Survived"

Podcast: The Opinions
Host/Author: The New York Times Opinion
Episode Release Date: February 12, 2025

---

Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Opinions, Manuel Vallo Hisbert, a visual anthropologist, artist, and activist from Mexico, shares his harrowing experience of being kidnapped by a drug cartel and surviving. He delves into the pervasive violence and enforced disappearances plaguing Mexico, offering deep insights into the historical and contemporary factors sustaining this crisis.

---

Manuel's Ordeal: A Personal Account of Kidnapping

Manuel begins by recounting the events of June 4, 2020, when he was kidnapped by a local drug cartel on the outskirts of Mexico City. He describes the precariousness of traveling on Mexican highways, notorious for frequent kidnappings and violence.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [00:48]: "We all know in Mexico that highways are extremely dangerous. [...] there's no one here so we really have to move."

As Manuel and his ex-partner were capturing shots for a short film, armed cartel members approached them, demanding a ransom of $15,000 to be collected from their families. The situation quickly escalated into severe physical and psychological torture.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [03:00]: "They put us in the car, they asked for $15,000 of ransom... They took us to a very lonely place where we got like very badly tortured."

The violence inflicted upon Manuel left him with broken vertebrae, a collapsed lung, and multiple bruises, yet he miraculously survived the ordeal.

---

Historical Context: The Roots of Violence in Mexico

Manuel provides a historical backdrop to the current state of violence in Mexico, tracing it back to the repression of social movements and guerrillas from the 1960s to the 1990s. He explains how the government's attempts to silence these movements through kidnappings and disappearances laid the groundwork for ongoing instability.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [04:30]: "Mexico has a long history of disappearances and violence. Between the 60s and 1990, the government repressed a number of social movements and guerrillas..."

This period saw an explosion of violence as the government occupied towns, kidnapped individuals, and perpetrated widespread human rights abuses.

---

The Disappearance of 43 Students: A National Turning Point

The episode highlights the pivotal incident in 2014 involving the disappearance of 43 students from the School of Ayotzinapa in Guerrero. This tragedy became a catalyst for national outrage and increased opposition against systemic corruption and violence.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [05:36]: "In order to change it, we have to understand it. [...] Mexico has to first understand how violence has transversed across our history..."

The host interjects to emphasize the impact of this event on Mexican society:

Podcast Host [05:36]: "Corruption and political violence are endemic in Mexico. Yet this single incident [...] has galvanized all of this opposition here in the center of Mexico City."

Manuel explains how this event stripped away any remaining complacency among Mexicans, making it clear that no one was immune to the pervasive violence.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [05:51]: "That took out the bail that some people still have and made it clear to all Mexican society that no one was safe."

---

Activism and the Fight for Justice

Post-2018, Mexico witnessed a resurgence in violence, with over 117,000 official cases of missing persons—a number activists believe may be as high as one million. Manuel's kidnapping experience profoundly impacted him, driving him to document these cases and amplify the voices of the disappeared.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [06:13]: "I started to investigate. I quickly realized that of the 117,000 cases of missing people, there was very few who were able to speak or to be heard by a wider audience."

He collaborates with fellow activists like Tita Radilla, who tirelessly search for their missing family members despite the risks involved.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [09:04]: "Everyone needs to be heard."

Through interviews and documentation, Manuel captures the collective pain and resilience of families affected by enforced disappearances. He underscores the necessity of memory and historical understanding in combating systemic violence.

Manuel Vallo Hisbert [10:20]: "If you take a step back and see it all has a network of violence... the government allowing it and setting the soil for violence to be fertile on."

---

Conclusion

Manuel Vallo Hisbert's narrative offers a poignant glimpse into the reality of living under the shadow of drug cartels and government corruption in Mexico. His dedication to documenting enforced disappearances serves as a crucial call to action for societal acknowledgment and systemic change. Through personal testimony and historical context, the episode sheds light on the enduring struggle for justice and the importance of collective memory in overcoming violence.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Manuel Vallo Hisbert [02:15]: "When I lifted my head and looked at the field in front of me, there was foreman coming towards us with submachine guns and a large rifle."
• Manuel Vallo Hisbert [03:00]: "They put us in the car, they asked for $15,000 of ransom... They took us to a very lonely place where we got like very badly tortured."
• Manuel Vallo Hisbert [06:13]: "I always think about it almost as a call... to investigate and document these disappearances."
• Manuel Vallo Hisbert [10:20]: "The government allowing it and setting the soil for violence to be fertile on."

---

This summary encapsulates the key points, discussions, and insights from the episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the podcast.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This podcast is supported by Oracle AI.

[Oracle Representative]

Requires a lot of compute power and the cost for your AI workloads can spiral. That is unless you're running on OCI Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. This was the cloud built for AI, a blazing, fast enterprise grade platform for your infrastructure, database, apps and all of your AI workloads. Right now, Oracle can cut your current cloud bill in half if you move to OCI. Minimum financial commitment and other terms apply. Offer ends March 31. See if you [e-mail] NYT oracle.com NYT.

[Podcast Announcer]

This is the Opinions a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it.

[Manuel Vallo Hisbert]

My name is Manuel Vallo Hisbert. I'm a visual anthropologist, artist and activist living in Mexico. I document cases of enforced disappearance and state terrorism in Mexico. I started doing the work that I do after I was kidnapped in 2020 by a local drug cartel in the outskirts of Mexico City. On June 4, 2020, my ex partner and I, we were on a highway outside of Mexico City. We were trying to do some shots for a short film that she was doing and I had this bad feeling inside of me. We all know in Mexico that highways are extremely dangerous. And I remember telling her in this place women get raped all the time. People get kidnapped all the time. They found bodies in the highway or in the little towns that are adjacent to the highway all the time, so we have to be very careful. And we stopped in a little road that connected to the highway and while she was doing her thing, I remember just watching my feet and watching the earth and thinking, there's no one here so we really have to move. When I lifted my head and looked at the field in front of me, there was foreman coming towards us with submachine guns and a large rifle. They stopped right in front of me, they pointed their guns at me, I raised my hands and they ordered us to get in the car. When they put us in the car, they asked for $15,000 of ransom that we have to ask that to our families. And from that point I realized that my life was about to they took us to a very lonely place where we got like very badly tortured. They met Tablearon, which here in Mexico tablear means like they grab this very heavy and thick piece of wood and they hit you on the back. Has a way of torture. So my legs and my my back was completely bruised when I saw it. Days later I got a broken vertebra, a broken rib, a collapsed lung, two or three hours after they ordered us to get in the car, they stopped torturing us, and they took us back to the car. And at the end, almost as a miracle, we came out of it alive. Not a lot of the people who are kidnapped get to tell their story or to think about their story. After I lived through it, I realized that violence in Mexico is all reaching, and in order to change it, we have to understand it. And I think a vital part of it is documenting cases and trying to connect those cases and trying to frame those cases in the stream of history. Mexico has a long history of disappearances and violence. Between the 60s and 1990, the government repressed a number of social movements and guerrillas that were asking for social equality and economic equality. When I talk about guerrillas, I mean armed social social movements organized by rural teachers, farmers, or students fighting for social equality. People rose in arms, and the government, being unable to completely silence the social movements or the guerrillas, they went to get the families of the people who were fighting. So towns got occupied by the army, and people were kidnapped. Women were raped. There was this explosion of violence. Then, between 1990 and 2006, it was relatively peaceful. But everything changed in 2014, when the government, the local police, and the cartels were all involved in the disappearance of 43 students from the School of Ayotzinapa.

[Podcast Host]

Corruption and political violence are endemic in Mexico. Yet this single incident, the disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, has galvanized all of this opposition here in the center of Mexico City.

[Manuel Vallo Hisbert]

In a sense, that took out the bail that some people still have and made it clear to all Mexican society that no one was safe.

[Podcast Host]

Many Mexicans have simply had enough. They're used to disappearance, they're used to murder. But this case, these 43 people, they want their government to find out what happened to the missing students.

[Manuel Vallo Hisbert]

And when we get to 2018, violence again exploded. Right now, at this very moment, there are 117,000 official cases of missing people. But some activists, human rights organizations, and families of the missing believe that the real number might be as high as health. A million. When I was freed, I was completely broken. And I was very afraid, not only because of me, but because of my then partner, because of my dad, because the family of my then partner. I was afraid that they might come back to get us. But I also had this very strange feeling that I now have some kind of deeper understanding of where I was standing in of the land that gave birth to me. And I always think about it almost as a call, like I felt called by something and I started to to investigate. I quickly realized that of the 117,000 cases of missing people, there was very few who were able to speak or to be heard by a wider audience. So I tasked myself with finding as many of these people as I could and to let their cases be also heard. And I met Tita Radilla, the daughter of this man in Guerrero who was taken by the army in the 70s. She's an activist, she's a human rights defender. And she started to look for her father when no one was looking and started to ask for justice and to ask for him to appear alive when that was almost like something foolish to do because you could get kidnapped or killed yourself. And I listened to tens of cases of her organization. Interview with Maria de Jesus Soriagallo.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Manuel Vallo Hisbert]

Mija Sofia Roena Meneses Mendez. And I listened all of these conglomeration of pain, all like a syndicate of pain that was so tightly and so powerfully contained inside of these people. I understood also Truqutita that I had to listen in order to heal. She said something akin to that everyone needs to be heard. Roberto Carlos Medina Vanda es Mies, Javier de Jesus Gonzalez Miranda and all of these families, a part of the justice that they need is to be heard. So I know that they think that this kind of work is very important. It is also very sad from my part and my position that the only thing that we can offer to them is memory. If you analyze the individual cases, sometimes you can say it was this person, it was this other person. But at the end, if you take a step back and see it all has a network of violence. You realize very quickly that even if an individual person commits an act of violence, it is due to the government allowing it and setting the soil for violence to be fertile on. I realize that all of the cases are connected and it's like a web that the Mexican society has to first understand how violence has transversed across our history, across time, in the last 60 years, especially in order for us to be able to change and to start asking for justice and developing justice by ourselves.

[Podcast Announcer]

If you like this show, follow it on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. This show is produced by Derek Arthur, Sophia Alvarez Boyd, Vishaka Durba, Phoebe Lett, Christina Samulewski and Gillian Weinberger. It's edited by Kari Pitkin, Allison Bruzek and Annie Rose Strasser. Engineering, mixing and original music by Isaac Jones, sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Carol Saburo and Afim Shapiro. Additional music by Amin Sahota. The Fact Check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary, Marge Locker, and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta, Christina Samulewski, and Adrian Rivera. The executive producer of Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Dresser.