The kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, what we know about the four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico, and what this incident can tell us about medical tourism, the security situation at the U.S. southern border, and how U.S. policy has contributed to the problems.
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Last week, four American friends from South Carolina were kidnapped in the Mexican border city Matamoros. By the time Mexican security forces located them on the outskirts of the city Tuesday, two of the Americans were dead and another was injured. The two survivors have been returned to the border, and one suspect is in custody with an ongoing manhunt for others.
Today, The Washington Post’s Kevin Sieff explains how this affects the security relationship between the United States and Mexico, and what role the U.S. has played in making Matamoros a place where violence and kidnappings happen, often with impunity.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On Friday, four friends from South Carolina crossed the border from Brownsville, Texas |
| 0:08.2 | into Mothamoros, Mexico. |
| 0:14.1 | Kevin Ceefe is the Mexico City Bureau Chief in the post. |
| 0:17.8 | And he's been covering the kidnapping of four Americans who crossed the border into |
| 0:21.6 | Mexico late last week. |
| 0:24.0 | Not long after crossing the border, they were confronted by a group of armed men, shot |
| 0:31.7 | at and then forced into a pickup truck in Kiddent. |
| 0:36.5 | And that was all captured on a video taken by a bystander. |
| 0:39.7 | We saw it happen before we knew what happened to these friends. |
| 0:44.3 | And after they disappeared, this enormous manhunt began. |
| 0:48.4 | This incident has raised questions about the security relationship between the US and |
| 0:52.7 | Mexico. |
| 0:53.7 | In the role the US has played in making Mothamoros a place for criminal gangs Kiddent people, |
| 0:59.8 | often with impunity. |
| 1:04.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. |
| 1:08.0 | I'm Arjun Seng. |
| 1:09.3 | I'll be your guest host today. |
| 1:11.7 | Today, Kevin and I talk about what happened with this group of Americans who are Kiddent |
| 1:16.6 | in Mexico and the reactions on both sides of the border. |
| 1:27.0 | So what do we know about what happened to these four Americans? |
| 1:31.0 | After the kidnapping on Friday, a massive manhunt was set off. |
| 1:35.4 | You had intelligence coming from the US and Mexican security forces with the Mexican army, |
... |
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