San Miguel Kidnappings

by Erick Galindo, Roger Vela, Karla Souza (Narrator)

The close knit community in San Miguel de Allende Mexico was plagued by a string of sophisticated kidnappings for nearly a decade. When the police finally made an arrest the townspeople were shocked by who was accused of masterminding the criminal enterprise. It's everyone's favorite neighbor and a pillar of the community, Ramon Guerra. Except Ramon isn't who he says he is.

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime

Audible Audio

First published December 5, 2024

About the author

Erick Galindo is an award-winning writer, producer and journalist. His work has appeared in the publications of such distinguished storytellers as Hispanic Link New Service, Yahoo!, Time Warner Cable Sports, Pasadena Star-News, San Jose Mercury News and La Opinion. He has covered everything from plantain bandits in Puerto Rico to the collapse of housing market in Los Angeles, and is an alum of the prestigious New York Times Student Journalism Institute.

Reviews

[Michael Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the short book description. Does it sound like that of a cheap suspense novel? Except that this is non-fiction. The team spent 3 years interviewing people and piecing together vignettes to bring you a depiction of one aspect of Mexican life: (police) corruption. The decade long kidnapping resulted in arrest because the kidnapped woman is French American — or at least that’s what it seems like to the locals.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly fascinating deep dive into a petrifying reality the leaders can't-or don't want to-bring into control, and the rest of the world seems afraid to help. The drug and violence cultures of Mexico and some other Latino-?(please pardon me if that isn't a correct title)nations is astoundingly harsh, incredibly real. That no one can get a handle on it, whether it's too widespread and too bold, and/or because officials are too attached to their cuts, is painful to hear about. In the news, it seems sad but so far away, and almost easy to move on from. In a story such as this, the details are in your face, and remain in your head, long after each chapter.
I'm sure this investigator has many big cases and much success in front of her.

[Miranda3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend listening to audio version. It is like a podcast. Didn’t know at all about these kidnappings so interesting read. However no answers in the end which is unsatisfying. Approach it more as a true crime mystery podcast than a book.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audible
An interesting story. I thought I knew, then I didn’t, now I’m not sure.

[Raimundo Del Valle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aunque la historia está bien construida y el relato resulta entretenido gracias a una producción sonora de calidad y una narración envolvente, el audiolibro "Secuestros en San Miguel" cae en una peligrosa tendencia de revisionismo ideológico que distorsiona hechos históricos y éticos fundamentales.

A lo largo de varios capítulos, se percibe un sesgo pro-revolucionario evidente, que no solo minimiza los delitos de un asesino confeso como Raúl Escobar Poblete, sino que además desprestigia sistemáticamente a las instituciones chilenas mediante falacias narrativas y omisiones estratégicas. El tratamiento del asesinato de Jaime Guzmán, por ejemplo, se presenta con una ambigüedad moral que raya en la justificación, lo cual resulta inaceptable desde cualquier estándar ético o periodístico serio.

Más grave aún, se plantea la pregunta de si a Escobar se le han "robado siete años de libertad", ignorando por completo el historial criminal que lo vincula con secuestros, homicidios y terrorismo. ¿Libertad? ¿Para quién? ¿A costa de cuántas víctimas?

Este tipo de narrativa no es periodismo investigativo, sino una derivada ideológica del periodismo progresista conspirativo, que busca desvirtuar la realidad y sembrar dudas sobre hechos probados. En lugar de aportar a la memoria histórica o al entendimiento social, el audiolibro parece más interesado en reconstruir la imagen de un criminal bajo una luz romántica y revolucionaria.

En resumen, "Secuestros en San Miguel" es un producto técnicamente bien logrado, pero éticamente cuestionable, que utiliza el formato de audio para disfrazar propaganda ideológica como relato documental.

[Juan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between 2007 and 2017, San Miguel de Allende experienced a wave of kidnappings.

This audiobook is a deep journalistic investigation into those dark years.

It’s shocking to see how some criminals, after committing atrocities, beg for mercy without showing any remorse.

What do they truly deserve? Justice without concessions or an even harsher punishment?

A topic that definitely sparks reflection.

[Cass · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should have been titled “was Ramon wrongfully convicted?” Or something like that because this barely talked about the kidnappings and just gave a bunch of background on Ramon/emilio and talked about his past crimes he admitted to and how it seems like he was framed. Came for the story of the victims but that wasn’t what this was.

[Anny Tonks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se que tal vez no es lo apropiado decir pero el tema está para una película. La verdad que se aventaron una excelente investigación y le rascaron un montón a los temas del pasado para poder explicar el porqué de las cosas. Si quedan dudas, pero creo que es normal para el tipo de investigación que trata.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this true crime listen from the Audible Original list. Fairly short listen, a little over 5 hours. I was immediately sucked into the story. It’s a very difficult listen due to the brutality of the kidnappings. Definitely held my attention.

[Chelsea Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing investigation into the kidnappings in San Miguel. This documentary will have you considering the possibility of conspiracy theories, but also the consideration that they did get the right person. In the grander picture, you’ll ponder how this isn’t just about this case, but a much larger problem in Latin America.

[Melissa Folgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Escucharé todo lo que narre Karla Souza

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Amy Pritchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

READ AROUND THE WORLD CHALLENGE: Mexico.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just never got I to it.

[Heather Havey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down. I enjoyed the episode style updates but was hoping for a bit more information.