Mothers Demand Justice While Mexico Prepares for the World Cup

In Mexico City, a large group of mothers marched on Sunday. They are not there to celebrate football. Instead, they want the country’s attention on a darker issue: missing people. Every year on Mother’s Day, these mothers walk the same route down Paseo de la Reforma. This time they asked soccer fans to join them. They carried signs that showed pictures of the missing and wrote “no celebration, only justice. ” The march began at a roundabout that is always covered with photos of disappeared persons. The mothers shouted, “Mexico, champion in disappearances. ” They also pointed out that the country’s fight against drug cartels started in 2006. Graciela Perez Rodriguez shared her story. Her daughter and four relatives vanished in 2012 while traveling on a highway after visiting the U. S.She said that no one had taken responsibility for their disappearance. Mexico has more than 130, 000 missing people today. Many of those cases involve police or government officials. When families try to find their own missing loved ones, they sometimes become targets of criminal groups. In March, officials announced that over 40, 000 people listed as missing might still be alive. They discovered this by checking the national registry against other government records. A research group, Mexico Evalua, found that disappearances have doubled in the last decade. The rise is linked to stronger organized crime groups. Rodriguez worries that her case has lost priority after almost 14 years. She feels a deep emptiness in the system that should protect families.