**
In Mexico, the horror of enforced disappearances has reached staggering proportions, with over 130,000 individuals now considered missing. This grim statistic underscores a national crisis that has devastated countless families and reflects the relentless expansion of drug cartels across the country. According to a recent report from the public policy analysis firm México Evalúa, the rate of disappearances has surged more than 200% over the past decade, painting a harrowing picture of violence and impunity.
The Descent into Darkness
The tragic case of Ángel Montenegro epitomises the heart-wrenching reality faced by many families in Mexico. In August 2022, the 31-year-old construction worker was abducted in Cuautla after a night of drinking with friends. A white van pulled up, and armed men forcibly took him and a colleague, leaving the latter behind but whisking Montenegro away into an uncertain fate. His family, desperate for answers, scoured the streets for any sign of him. All they found were his belongings—a cap and a shoe—relics of a life abruptly interrupted.
Three years have elapsed since that fateful day, and Patricia García, Montenegro’s mother, remains in a relentless pursuit of her son. “The desperation started when night fell,” she recalls, a poignant reminder of the anguish experienced by families across the nation grappling with similar circumstances.
A National Epidemic
The phenomenon of enforced disappearances in Mexico is not an isolated issue; it is emblematic of a broader crisis exacerbated by rampant cartel violence and governmental ineptitude. As criminal organisations tighten their grip on vast territories, the landscape of violence has morphed. Security analyst Armando Vargas states, “It’s a problem that has become uncontrollable at the national level,” attributing the surge in disappearances to the aggressive tactics employed by these gangs.
Forced recruitment, territorial disputes, and the diversification of illegal activities—including organ trafficking and smuggling—have become commonplace. In this brutal environment, cartels often resort to burying victims in unmarked graves or incinerating bodies to evade detection. Such tactics, Vargas explains, serve to “invisibilize the violence,” allowing these criminal enterprises to operate under the radar while instilling fear in the populace.
Government Response: A Disheartening Reality
In a bid to confront this escalating crisis, the Mexican government established a National Search Commission in 2018. This initiative aimed to encourage families to report missing persons and create a comprehensive database of disappearances. However, the commission has been plagued by underfunding and political interference. Ahead of the 2024 elections, the administration of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador controversially reduced the official count of missing individuals to just 12,377, an action that incited outrage among activists and human rights advocates.
Current President Claudia Sheinbaum dismissed the findings of the México Evalúa report, insisting that the platform used to track disappearances was flawed. She has promised a new report to more accurately reflect the scale of this tragedy. Yet, analysts contend that the figures presented by the government are likely an underrepresentation of the true magnitude of the crisis, given the ongoing violence and the government’s inability to effectively investigate and resolve these cases.
A Fight for Justice
Faced with a staggering 96% unsolved crime rate in 2022, many families have taken it upon themselves to search for their loved ones. García has joined a group of mothers who organise weekly searches, utilising metal rods to probe for potential burial sites. Their efforts have uncovered multiple bodies, yet the grim reality remains: none have been identified as their children.
The toll this relentless search takes on families is immense. García describes her experience as akin to a vase shattering—“You can glue it back together, but the cracks are always there.” The emotional and psychological scars of this ordeal are indelible, leaving families to grapple with loss and uncertainty while they navigate a system that often feels indifferent to their plight.
Why it Matters
The surge in enforced disappearances in Mexico is not merely a statistic; it is a crisis that resonates deeply within countless families and communities. The ongoing struggle for justice reflects a broader societal failure to confront the forces of violence and impunity. As these families continue to fight for answers, their resilience serves as a poignant reminder of the human cost of this epidemic. The international community must pay attention—because the silence surrounding these tragedies only perpetuates the cycle of violence.
