Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Mexico City on Sunday, led by mothers whose children vanished during years of cartel-related violence. The Mother’s Day march drew attention to the country’s crisis of missing persons as Mexico gears up to co-host the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Groups representing families of the disappeared organize this annual demonstration each Mother’s Day. This year, they urged soccer supporters to stand with them, declaring in a public statement that “there is nothing to celebrate, because the mothers of Mexico are playing the most difficult match: the one for justice.”
Marchers filled Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s main thoroughfare, carrying photographs of missing loved ones on banners and posters. “Mexico, champion in disappearances,” the crowd chanted as they walked past a traffic circle permanently decorated with images of those who have vanished, now surrounded by metal barricades.
“We had to start fighting, because no one wanted to take charge of the disappearance (case),” explained Graciela Perez Rodriguez. Her daughter and four other family members went missing in 2012 while driving through the northern state of Tamaulipas after visiting the United States.
The nation faces a staggering crisis with over 130,000 people reported missing. These disappearances dramatically increased following 2006, when Mexico declared war against drug trafficking organizations.
Law enforcement officers and government workers are frequently connected to these crimes. Mothers who conduct their own searches when official investigations stall often become targets themselves, facing threats and violence from criminal organizations.
Mexican officials announced in March that they had possibly identified more than 40,000 individuals from the missing persons database who might still be alive, following an examination of the national registry that revealed activity in other government databases.
However, research from Mexico Evalua, a public policy organization, shows disappearances have tripled during the past ten years as organized crime groups have expanded their influence.
Rodriguez expressed concern that authorities no longer prioritize her family’s case after nearly 14 years have elapsed.
“We feel this emptiness,” she said.
