Family of kidnapped Coral Gables man to meet with Mexican ambassador

January 20, 2010

BY HERALD STAFF

The family of a Coral Gables man, who was kidnapped more than a year ago in Mexico, will be in Washington on Wednesday, along with Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to pressure the U.S. and Mexican governments to do more in finding the man and his captors.

Nelson and Ros-Lehtinen, who have worked closely with the family of Felix Batista since his disappearance in December 2008, will meet with Batista's wife, Lourdes, and have arranged a meeting with Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan.

The two lawmakers have also expressed their concerns to the Obama administration.

Batista, 53, and the father of five children, went missing from a restaurant in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila on Dec. 10, 2008. Ironically, Batista specializes in resolving kidnapping cases and was in Mexico to speak to businessmen about avoiding abductions.

He was last seen entering a car outside the La Principal restaurant in Saltillo, Mexico.

No ransom has been reported and his whereabouts remain unknown.

In a letter last year to President Barack Obama, Ros-Lehtinen urged Obama to seriously consider this matter because ``Mr. Batista's case tragically demonstrates the irrefutable threat that Mexico's escalating narco-violence poses to the security of our own nation and citizens.''

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