FROM THE OUTSIDE | Regarding the missing and the protests

Por

José Carreño Figueras

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Publicado: 14/4/2025 · 1:37 p.m. MX | Actualizado: 14/4/2025 · 1:37 p.m. MX

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” This line from Hamlet by William Shakespeare suggests in modern terms that when someone denies something forcefully, they may be trying to conceal the truth or engage in political manipulation.

It seems that some members of the ruling coalition in Congress reacted with outrage at the possibility of the United Nations investigating the issue of disappearances in Mexico. This reaction followed a statement by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, which, as of 2017, had recorded 560 such cases in Mexico, with dozens—perhaps hundreds—more since then.

The protests from the ruling party sound eerily like how the party in power thirty years ago might have reacted if confronted with the same situation—that the Mexican government might bear some responsibility, however slight, for political disappearances or for the thousands of cases recorded in the country over the past decade.

Sigue leyendo:

Donald Trump mantiene popularidad pese a imposición de aranceles; 54% de estadounidenses lo aprueba

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The truth is that one can accept the idea that the current government had no direct involvement in the disappearances—or possible murders—and that at least it is no longer guilty of omission, having decided to engage in dialogue with the searching mothers, whose loved ones were mostly victims of the “war on drugs.”

Even if it’s doing so in the embarrassing absence of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).

It’s a bitter pill to swallow, no matter how you look at it. Let’s not even discuss possible or tacit pacts—that’s speculation for now.

But the reality is that thousands of individuals are missing, including those in politically motivated cases, even if they were local. There are locations where people have been murdered and their bodies secretly disposed of, and for years, the authorities—whether local or federal—chose to look the other way.

Now, amid accusations and the prospect of an international investigation, the integrity and impartiality of such an inquiry are being called into question.

Certainly, one can always question the integrity of an international organization—after all, every institution is ultimately shaped by the will of its members, and the UN is no exception.

However, the fact remains that there are—and were—missing persons.

The truth is that Mexico has tens of thousands of reported disappearances- many, far too many—cases of people who went missing due to political or criminal reasons. When confronted with such reports, action—or the reluctance to act—falls to the authorities. The current government may assert that it was not involved, but it is still required to demonstrate that it is not complicit.

However, the protests from some are a bit too intense.

José Carreño Figueras