Cancún Politician Freed After Kidnappers’ Mistaken Identity

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Berzaín Rodrigo Vázquez Coutiño, who last year sought to run as an independent candidate for mayor of Benito Juárez municipality, has stated that he was kidnapped by a cartel during a visit to Guadalajara on August 27, when he was reported missing. He was later released after the captors verified it was an error.

“I told them I wasn’t from Guadalajara, that I was from Cancún; they told us that if we had nothing to do with it, we shouldn’t be afraid… They divided us into groups like sheep for shearing, and those who weren't,” he detailed in a press conference.

He asserted that his kidnapping was not for political motives or money, as no ransom was demanded, but was instead the result of a confusion on the part of the criminal group.

A Harrowing Ordeal

“The first week was very difficult, they mistreated us a lot, they hit us, they blindfolded you and covered your ears; I don’t know where I was, I don’t know which group took us. We never had a chance to see each other, but we were a group; they took about 15 of us, they were armed and in uniform,” he said.

During the first week, he was held in a safe house, always blindfolded. He was then moved to another safe house before being released on September 20 along with other individuals who had also been abducted.

Regarding his trip to Guadalajara, Vázquez Coutiño commented that he went to participate in the inauguration of an art gallery and afterwards had planned to meet with some politicians.

He acknowledged that on the day of his release, in an area of Zapopan, he was put into a vehicle and thought he was going to die. He then explained to one of his captors that a mistake had been made.

Vázquez Coutiño called on governments to create a protocol for the rescue of people who innocently suffer this type of situation.