We think of San Miguel de Allende as an island of tranquility, somehow insulated from the violence and mayhem in the border cities and along the drug smuggling routes. Occasionally stories circulate about murders and kidnappings in our community, but these get no media play so we hear about them only by word of mouth. Do such events really happen? ¿Quien sabe?

A story in today’s Washington Post confirms one of the rumors.

The newspaper recounts the kidnapping of Eduardo Garcia Valseca, a San Miguel resident. It makes chilling reading; not for the squeamish or easily frightened.

I often dismiss the concerns of my north-of-the-border friends, chiding them for living in a culture of fear. I point out the serenity of San Miguel living as we expats experience it. I cite the assertion made by Mexico City author David Lida in First Stop in the New World, that the crime rate in our capitol is lower than in many U. S. cities.

But reports of lawlessness and violence seem to be increasing, and the stories are beginning to hit closer to home. Felipe writes about a shot-up police station a mile from his ranchito in Pátzcuaro. Islagringo, vacationing in Huatulco, encounters the military burning tons of marijuana. This year, the owner of my gym was kidnapped and ransomed: he now is a broken man.

My friends and I are not prominent people, not wealthy, do not traffic in drugs or loansharking. We live peaceful lives, unnoticed by criminals other than the occasional pickpocket, easily avoided with a little vigilance.

I disapprove of U. S. media fearmongering. But blanket insistence about secure living in Mexico may be a little naïve.