Mexico City – Thousands of people marched across Mexico on Friday to demand stronger action over the country’s soaring number of enforced disappearances, as the nation marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Relatives of the missing, joined by human rights activists, organized rallies in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Córdoba, and other major cities. Protesters held aloft photos of loved ones and banners urging President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration to step up efforts to find the disappeared.
Official figures show that more than 130,000 people have vanished in Mexico—nearly all of them since 2007, when then-President Felipe Calderón launched a military-led “war on drugs.”
Many victims are believed to have been abducted by cartels and forced into criminal groups, or killed for resisting. Security forces have also faced accusations of involvement in abductions and extrajudicial killings.
Nationwide outrage
From Oaxaca in the south to Sonora and Durango in the north, the protests highlighted the scale of the crisis. In Mexico City, demonstrators blocked traffic along major avenues, chanting for justice and government accountability.
With little confidence in official investigations, many families have created their own search groups, known as buscadores, who scour deserts, forests, and rural areas for clandestine graves. These volunteer searchers face grave risks—some have disappeared themselves. In Jalisco, authorities recently dismissed reports of a crematorium at a suspected cartel site, despite fears raised by families.
Global alarm
The United Nations has called Mexico’s crisis “a human tragedy of enormous proportions.” The number of missing far exceeds some of Latin America’s darkest chapters: roughly 40,000 people disappeared during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war, while Argentina’s military dictatorship accounted for about 30,000.
For countless Mexican families, the anguish continues. “We will not stop searching until our last heartbeat,” one protester declared.
