Mexico and disappearances: social denial, political silence and international hope

‘The wait is painful,’ ‘We can't go out late anymore’, ’We all leave our homes wondering if something will happen to us.’ These and other thoughts cross the minds of Mexican citizens affected by the constant uncertainty of living in a country where disappearance is a reality. 

Despite the fact that announcements about disappearances can be found in every corner of the Mexican Republic, from lampposts to news reports and social media, a significant part of society continues to ignore this problem. In particular, the current Mexican government downplays the situation, arguing that the disappearance crisis was more critical during previous administrations. As a result, this attitude has led the government to ‘shelve’ the problem, diverting attention to other issues considered more urgent, such as the current trade war with its northern neighbour. 

However, amid the darkness, a ray of hope illuminated the homes of Mexican victims in early April when the United Nations, through its Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), activated the procedure under Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. For the families of the disappeared, who had been requesting an investigation from the CED since 2021, the response was seen as a sign that their fight for justice was finally beginning to be heard. 

However, the organisation's response was not well received by everyone. The head of state, Claudia Sheinbaum, and the Mexican Senate denied and discredited the international intervention, attacking the UN's position and refusing to acknowledge the magnitude of the problem.  

‘In Mexico, there are no forced disappearances by the state, that does not exist,’ declared President Claudia Sheinbaum. At the same time, the Senate rejected the CED's position, denying that disappearances are widespread or systematic in Mexico and condemning the committee for lack of evidence and irrationality.  

These positions were quickly rejected by political scientist Denise Dresser, who asserted that ‘it is the Mexican state that, in the name of fighting organised crime, has allowed its own population to be killed and disappeared.’  

In this context, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, in Article 2, states that enforced disappearance occurs when a person is deprived of their liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups acting with the authorisation or support of the State, concealing their whereabouts and placing them outside the reach of the law. In Mexico, official figures indicate that, from 2006 to the present, there has been an increase in disappearances, ironically coinciding with the start of the famous ‘war on drugs’ promoted during the six-year term of former President Felipe Calderón. 

The country is divided: while some applaud the UN's response, others prefer to ignore reality. Comments on social media following the organisation's announcement are shocking: ‘You have to wonder where these mothers demanding justice came from. Someone is paying them’; ‘Why don't they go to Africa or other parts of Latin America?’ ‘They have no right to demand anything, they're just getting money’; ‘And we will reject this intervention, because that committee doesn't live here’.  

Despite everything, this problem is not new; it has been used as a tactic of social suppression for years. According to Dr Carolina R. Silvestre, enforced disappearance in Mexico began to be recognised as a form of political repression in 1968, during the ‘dirty war’, which lasted until 1982. The state used disappearances as a tactic to dissolve opposition movements to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), affecting both social leaders and people outside politics. Arrests were arbitrary, without court orders, and people were taken to clandestine centres.  

Enforced disappearance continued to be used in other periods of Mexico's history, including in recent years, where the concept of ‘organised crime’ has been used to cover up disappearances and divert responsibility from the state, confusing the population about the nature of these crimes and hindering access to justice. 

In any case, the figures on disappearances cannot continue to be disguised with political rhetoric. It is time for society to unite, recognise the magnitude of the problem and demand an action plan that goes beyond internal corruption. Currently, more than 125,000 people are still missing in Mexico. As has been said, this has caused growing frustration among thousands of relatives, who are tired of being deceived by endless broken promises. They demand answers, and if the government cannot protect them, who else will? 

The Mexican people cannot face a problem of this magnitude alone. They need the support of international organisations with the capacity to investigate and prosecute crimes that violate human rights, to end this period of terror and achieve a country free of corruption and with security for future generations.