Baseball in Venezuela

This is just crazy that a professional baseball player got kidnapped. However it kind of brings out a bad side of the government. People get kidnapped everyday and nothign even happens, they just go missing. Then this mlb player gets kidnapped and the national guard is called in? Sure this guy is a mlb player but why should he get more attention than the thousands of other people kidnapped everyday?

It is no surprise that Ramos was found quickly given the amount of effort expended to find him and bring his kidnappers for justice. For those saying that he received special attention to his case, well of course he did. I don't know of many countries where the wealthy and famous don't receive special consideration, I know that's the case in the United States. This also goes to show that in some countries like Mexico and apparently Venezuela, no one is safe from this danger. If these countries are to be visited than tourists should stick to areas that are guarded and safe, as kidnappings occur all too frequently, and for most of us the effort expended to find us would be considerably smaller.

The fact that police are involved in so many crimes can lead one to believe that they were partially involved in this case as well. Possibly the only reason it was resolved so quickly was because they managed to crack some of their own officers.

It's always a little sad when stories like this come out and you realize how fast things like this can be taken care of but never are. If the person kidnapped had not been a celebrity the story would never get this much attention. Money really can make anything happen. With all that said, I am glad that a life was saved.

Air support and National Guard for a baseball player? A major-league baseball player? That is ridiculous. Lots of kidnappings go down in Venezuela everyday, but none of the efforts are to this extreme. What makes this guys so special? What about the other citizens? What about the citizens that never got a chance to be saved by Hugo Chavez's "massive undertaking." Sounds like Hugo just wanted to make himself look good and prevent people from freaking out because this guys is just that well-known of a guy.

I'm not very familiar with the previous stories on kidnapping in Venezuela, but I'm not sure I totally agree with the argument that Venezuelan police are involved in kidnapping crimes, on the basis on this particular kidnapping crime. If it is indeed true that they are involved, why would they give themselves away by kidnapping a high profile individual to rescue him, when normally kidnapped individuals aren't rescued this quickly.

I think it is great that Wilson Ramos is safe from the kidnapping. Hugo Chavez put a big effort into making sure the kidnappers were caught and punished. However, it would be great to see other kidnappings dealt with in the same manner. This may be the reason why 90% of the citizens in Venezuela think that the police are actually involved in crimes.

It seems like the only reason this crime was solved was the fact that the kidnapped victim had a profile high enough to make international news. Chances are the government would not have gotten so involved as to have a gunfight with the captures if the victim was unknown, I mean there's a one in five chance they would be shooting their own men.

The government needs to do something about the police committing crimes themselves. If a country's own police force is committing crimes then the citizens cannot feel very safe. They can't be sure that they will be protected and taken care of. It is good that they got Wilson back so quickly, but that is mainly because he is known. They should be that concerned with all of the kidnappings and major crimes in the country.

It's horrifying to know that many policemen are involved in these crimes in South America and that the President himself has been linked to sheltering guerrilla groups. Knowing that a large part of the government is corrupt and that Chavez is a part of it makes his "massive undertaking" look like a front. The only reason his kidnapping was made a big deal and that major search parties were sent to rescue him was because Ramos is famous. Gang crimes like this occur a lot more often than we are informed of, and the only reason this case was brought to light was because Ramos is a celebrity. It makes you wonder how much criminal groups get away with by being a part of the government.

I'm glad that Mr. Ramos is safe and sound but it doesn't surprise me that this happened. you have a wealthy individual going into a poor country, of course people are going to try crazy things to get him and his money. Think it was alittle over the top to involve air support and the participation of the national guard but they got the job done. One would hope that Chavez would go through the same steps if it was just an average joe.

I understand the magnitude of the situation where an important figure and a figure that has been well recognized around the country through sports and the government was called in to deal with the situation but I don't see this happening for regular commoners. The Venezuelan government put to use the National Guard and the heavy use of the police force because they knew the United States was very high on Wilson Ramos and had a lot of respect for him. So to up relations and to show the United States that "they were serious in their actions" they sent in everyone to find one person and bring him back alive. Yes I think it's a great story and it's great the National's catcher was brought back alive but why doesn't the government of Venezuela do this for everyone that is kidnapped and do something more for the people that are everyday citizens and lead normal lives? Celebrities aren't the only ones getting kidnapped.

The fact that so many kidnappings are occurring in Venezuela is a scary thought, but luckily they were able to Ramos. Of course all of the stops were pulled to find him because he is an important figure to the country. It is sad because of the number of people that go missing many are never found, despite best efforts. After Ramos was found quickly Chavez quickly used this as propaganda for their military. Overall, the Venezuelan government should try and save every kidnapped person not just the high profile ones.

This is another example of how populism drives Venezuelan politics specially in electoral(political)-cycles. Although we are grateful of Wilson Ramos's rescue, several hundreds (if not thousands) venezuelans do not share the same fortune as Wilson. It remains dubious how security forces located Wilson Ramos whereabouts so easily and quick while most crimes in my country remain unpunished and un-resolved. This is the threat that ordinary citizens face each day only making it through the headlines in numbers, not names. I hope that this predicament could be addressed to be tackled and not for political propaganda in electoral campaigns.

It is a very scary thought to think that your own president and police (the people that are supposed to protect you) are involved in most of the crime going own in the country. I also think its evident here that the only reason there was so much effort put forth and so much attention drawn to Ramos being missing is because he was famous. It seems like the many other innocent humans that are being kidnapped should also be a main focus of the Venezuelan government. Chavez needs to make some changes to their corrupt government.

This article proves how corrupt governments can be around the world. The article says that according to polls, "over 90% of the population believes that the police themselves are involved in crime". This is a statistic that no one ever wants to see. It means that people have lost faith in the government and their way of handling situations. What Hugo Chavez tried to do in this case is put everything he could into rescuing someone famous because he knew he and his country would receive a lot of publicity. By doing this he is trying to make his country look good, but when taking a closer examination we are able to see the real truth and how the public feels (which is demonstrated by the poll show above). In my opinion this is a big problem all over the world today, countries do things to make themselves look good but only when they know they will receive press for doing it, if they are not going to receive press then they most likely wont do anything at all.

I'm sure police are involved in kidnappings such as the one by Mr. Ramos that took place. What I do not understand is how was Mr. Ramos retrieved so quickly when many people every day are kidnapped from Venezuela. Huge Chavez is so corrupt I would not doubt he didn't have something to do with this whole situation. They are all looking to get by in a financial way, I'm sure they were asking for an enormous amount of money for Ramos.

Kidnappings in Venezuela have been extremely prevalent recently and Hugo Chavez has had mixed opinions on how he is handling it. The kidnappings have been left really under the radar, so it wasn’t until Wilson Ramos was kidnapped that people started to bring the issue to the surface. Some people believe that Hugo Chavez is making progress by finding Wilson Ramos in just three days but others are disturbed by how the kidnappings have been not noticed.

This article isn't just about the government making a heroic save of a kidnapped major league baseball player. This article actually highlights the crime that is increasing throughout Venezuela. Although the President called for the rescue and sent back up for safety, this was just one act that took place. Throughout the country there are many kidnappings taking place and all are going unnoticed. The people do not even feel safe with the police, believing that they are in fact involved with the crimes. If your own security is not to be trusted, how are crime rates supposed to decrease? If one in five crimes are committed by cops, that shows something about the corruption of the country itself. Is Mr. Chavez letting this go unnoticed on purpose?

sounds exactly like the case of Mexico