Hundreds of Mexican Moms March on Mothers' Day to Call on Authorities to Find Missing Children
Mexico City once again witnessed hundreds of demonstrators gather for the annual Mother's Day march. This year, they demand the authorities to look for their missing children.
Individuals who participated in the march chanted slogans asking where their children were, emphasizing that their mothers are looking for them.
The said march is an annual event in Mexico City that happens every May 10, the day they celebrated Mother's Day. Based on the information gathered by the Mexican government, not less than 80,000 individuals have gone missing since the drug war in the country, which started in 2006.
According to The Hill, the Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez met with some mothers early on Monday to address the issue. Her office also shared that Sanchez repeatedly emphasized the government's desire to locate their relatives.
Martha Estela Arana, one among hundreds of demonstrators, shared it has been a pilgrimage, searching for justice numerous times. Arana's son, Alfredo Quesada Arana, went missing 11 years ago.
Arana shared that administrations come and go, and it has always been the same. Even other demonstrators mentioned that the government's promises have rung hollow in the past. But for Arana, they will continue searching until their last breath, Associated Press reported.
Moreover, Yolanda Moran, who attended the Mexico City Mother's Day march, emphasized that there is nothing to celebrate. While carrying a large photograph of her son, Dan Jeremeel Fernandez, who disappeared on December 19, 2008, at the age of 35, she marched in her wheelchair.
Miriam Cabrera, the mother of Romel Cabrera, who vanished on June 28, 2015, confessed that in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, they have at least 100 individuals who go missing each day. However, they were not all reported because of fear for their lives as well.
Also, Patricia Springton brought photographs of her son, her husband, her sister-in-law, and her niece. All of them were last seen on July 14, 2010, when they were traveling to Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas.
Now 23-year-old Maricarmen Cardona started accompanying her mother at marches when she was around 11. Until now, she demanded authorities to find for her father, who disappeared together with a dozen of other individuals in the northern city of Piedras Negras way back in 2009.
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Numbers Don't Lie
AP noted that most of those who disappear are presumably abducted by drug cartels or kidnapping gangs. However, authorities and police are suspected of being behind on some of the disappearances. Not only mothers were in attendance in the march. Some children who had to grow up without their parents also called on the government to find their long-lost parents.
Meanwhile, around 300,000 individuals have been murdered from 2006 to present. Authorities say most of the killings are linked to gang violence. Based on the official figures, there are at least 38,500 unidentified bodies with forensic services, Gulf News reported.
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WATCH: Mother's Day march remembers victims of violence in Mexico | AFP - AFP News Agency
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