Fury at kidnap boy's murder hits Mexico's President

Fernando Marti might have been just another gruesome statistic in the fearful catalogue of kidnap-for-ransom cases in Mexico – hundreds are reported every year – but for a couple of things: he was 14 years old and his abductors killed him even after his family paid up.

The discovery of the decomposed body of Fernando, the son of a business tycoon, in the boot of a car was enough to trigger the wave of popular disgust and impatience now engulfing the government of the President, Felipe Calderon. But it got worse. The perpetrators, it is now alleged, were police officers.

As the anger mounts, tens of thousands of Mexicans are expected to join marches, decrying the endless cycle of kidnappings, planned for later this month in the capital and several other large cities. Mr Calderon, who came to power two years ago after promising to crack down on crime, is racing to respond.

A flurry of anti-crime proposals put forward this week included plans for the creation of an anti-kidnapping police squad of 300 officers operating in five of Mexico's biggest cities. The government is also calling for the drafting of a national pact involving all 32 state governments.

Mr Calderon, meanwhile, is calling on Congress to pass laws to make kidnappings punishable by life imprisonment in cases where the abductors were or have been members of a police force; if they kidnap minors or if they torture or kill their victims. "Society demands that we succeed in this challenge, that we end police corruption," Mr Calderon said. Some have called for the return of the death penalty.

The Mayor of Mexico City, Marcelo Ebrard, has announced new steps of his own, including the creation of a police investigations unit to replace the existing detectives' unit, members of which are now suspects in the Marti case.

For more than a decade, the fear of being kidnapped has been a daily reality for wealthier families. Many in the capital live in homes that are essentially barricaded, move around with bodyguards and pay K & R (kidnap and ransom) insurance .

An estimated 435 people were snatched in Mexico last year, an increase of 35 per cent on 2006. Since Mr Calderon came to power, 59 people have been killed by their kidnappers. The victims are nearly always adult and male.

Fernando, whose father, Alejandro Marti, is the co-owner of Mexico's largest sports goods chain, was travelling by car with a driver and bodyguard in June when they were stopped at a phoney roadblock. His family later paid the full ransom. It was only on 1 August that Fernando's body was found. Last week, officials said a number of police officers had been arrested in the case.

Jose Antonio Ortego, of the anti-crime group Y Basta (Enough is Enough), said: "Yet again, we see police officers implicated in abductions and other atrocious crimes, repugnant excuses and lies from ministry officials and prosecutors, and the fake consternation and empty promises of governors and politicians."

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