Thousands march against crime in Mexico

Mexico City: More than 100,000 frustrated Mexicans, many carrying pictures of kidnapped loved ones, marched across the country on Saturday to demand government action against a relentless tide of killings, abductions and shootouts.

Dressed in white and bearing white roses and daisies, an army of marchers packed the famed Paseo de la Reforma to pressure the nation's leaders to curb kidnappings blamed in part on renegade police and brutal murders said to be carried out by organised drug trafficking gangs and their confederates.

"We're tired. We're tired of the corruption," said Jose Antonio Villegas Campos, 56, an antique-coin-store owner who said robbers have hit his shop and stolen jewellery from his wife at gunpoint. "The authorities here don't do anything."

Some participants bore photographs of relatives who have been kidnapped. Others carried signs that said, "Enough!" One man splashed theatrical blood on his face and dangled lengths of chain from his wrists.

Almost everyone seemed to have a first-hand account of what it is like to be a crime victim.

Save Mexico

"I want the president to do something - it's in his hands. Save Mexico," said 44-year-old Leticia Martinez, referring to President Felipe Calderon. She said a gunman forced her from her car and drove off a year ago.

Similar marches took place in dozens of communities around Mexico and in several foreign cities.

Anger over crime has boiled over in the weeks since Fernando Marti, the 14-year-old son of a wealthy businessman, was found dead after his family reportedly paid millions of dollars to kidnappers.