Surgery in Monterrey is safe? Mexican PS kidnapped, American patient ultimate target

  Reporting from Mexico City —  Felix Perez Rocha, a plastic surgeon, had finished a liposuction and was starting another procedure when gunmen burst into his operating room and hauled the terrified doctor away.

The kidnapping at a high-end clinic in the affluent business hub of Monterrey immediately suggested one of the more cinematic chapters of drug-trafficking lore. A narco kingpin forcing a surgeon to alter his looks and help him evade the law? It has happened before.

But on Friday, state prosecutors in Monterrey said it appeared that Perez's patient was the target, not the doctor. A woman whom authorities identified as Elida Ordaz, 29, a U.S. citizen from Mission, Texas, had undergone the fat-removal procedure an hour or so before the four gunmen stormed the hospital. They demanded that she be turned over to them. When hospital officials refused — she had already left — they seized the doctor.

Here is the full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-m ayhem-20100814,0,5174013.story 

 If they were asking for the patient by name there is more going on than random violence.

 It's unclear whether they were seeking THAT woman, or whether they wanted an American for ransom.  If you read the full article, you will find that there have been several kidnappings for money in that city (wealthy people).  Not mentioned, but several have been Americans.  Hardly anyone files a complaint, out of fear.

My heart breaks for my Mexican family, friends, and neighbors.  That country is fighting a terrorist war of its own -- from within.

I googled and found other articles.  They were looking for her by name and the authorities have found her and have her in protective custody.

 They have her in PROTECTIVE custody, and not because she is thought to have been involved in any questionable activity.

What other articles have you found ... I am interested in this situation, if you know.

I googled key phrases from what you posted and came up with a bunch of different articles.  Which ones I read, I don't exactly remember.  So I would say google.

hi im eli yes they had in me in protective custody...

Choosing to have surgery in Mexico right now seems incredibly foolish. Safety issues about complex operations there aside, the country is in the middle of an undeclared civil war with the narco trafficers.

I fail to see how complex operations in Mexico are any less  safe than in the United States. The majority of the worlds population live outside of the US and they find a way to survive just fine. As for safety issues I do not believe that it is any less safe in Mexico than in any large city in the US. If you watch the news we have murders occurring on a daily basis throughout the United States in public places, businesses, and private homes.

In my small town in the Midwest we have had several incidents in the past few months that are dangerous; a random shooting in a Taco Bell parking lot, a shooting with a high powered rifle at a house in a affluent subdivision, a random beating of a store clerk, etc.... Does that mean that it is unsafe for me to live here? and should I move somewhere else? When we chose to live in fear than we are not choosing to live.

The situation in Mexico isn't just random "crime" incidents. If you haven't been paying attention, there is a full on paramilitary conflict between the federales and the large narcotic gangs that populate the northern and western states of Mexico. In 4 years of agressive engagment by the government there, there have been more then 28,000 deaths (which is ~22,000 more then the death toll of US troops in Iaq & Afghanistan combined for over 10 years of war for some perspective)

About once a week you're seeing stories of mass graves, public shoot outs, and assassinated police and government officials. It is one of the most dangerous parts of the world right now. The US State Department has travel advisories issued to avoid large parts of Mexico altogether.

Today's LA TIMES wrote, (see here)
"the State Department says American citizens should avoid: no longer just the border cities of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez but also highways around Mexico's industrial city of Monterrey and down the Pacific Coast to the central state of Michoacan."

So to answer the original poster's question: The US Government is specifically telling people not to travel to Monterray at this point