Rosario Ibarra, Advocate of the Disappeared People in Mexico, Dies at 95 Due to Failing Health

Rosario Ibarra died at age 95 due to failing health. Ibarra has been championing cases of disappeared people in Mexico since the disappearance of her son.

She helped develop Mexico's human rights movement and prompted her to become Mexico's first female presidential candidate, according to a Washington Post News report.

Her daughter, Rosario Piedra, now heads the National Human Rights Commission. Piedra announced her mother's death on the commission's Twitter account, wherein Ibarra was described as the "pioneer in defense of human rights, peace, and democracy."

Ibarra died in the northern city of Monterrey after several years of failing health.

Ibarra founded the Eureka Committee, a movement focused on gathering information about the fate of her son and other disappeared people in Mexico.

The advocate and other mothers in Eureka were reported to have faced an "authoritarian regime," where there was no respect for human rights, according to a CNDH Mexico News report.

Ibarra was awarded the Belisario Dominguez Medal of Honor as recognition for her hard work and activity as a human rights defender in favor of prisoners, disappeared, and political exiles.

Rosario Ibarra's Son Jesus Piedra

Jesus Piedra was accused of belonging to the Communist League guerilla group and disappeared during the "dirty war" against dissidence waged by the authoritarian government of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, according to a Paris Beacon News report.

Jesus was also accused of killing a police officer.

Ibarra, with some 80 mothers of the disappeared, held protests, such as the hunger strike of August 1978 in front of the Cathedral of Mexico, which was a place that prohibited demonstrations.

The protests led Mexico to enact an amnesty law in 1978 that freed some dissidents and allowed exiles to return.

Jesus was also a third-year medical student at the UANL. He talked about inequality along with other colleagues, motivating Jesus to join an anti-government group.

It was the judicial policeman Juventino Romero who was commissioned for Jesus' arrest, according to a Milenio report.

Jesus was tortured and was placed at the disposal of Nassar Haro, wherein he ultimately disappeared.

Rosario Ibarra

Ibarra was the first woman to appear on a Mexican presidential ballot in 1982. However, she won relatively few votes for the Revolutionary Party of the Workers.

The advocate for the disappeared has become a federal deputy twice and once a senator.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador noted in a tweet that they will always remember Ibarra for her most "profound love for the children and her solidarity with those who suffered due to the disappearance of their loved ones."

Ibarra considered Lopez Obrador as her friend. She mentioned the president, saying that she leaves in the Mexican president's hands the custody "of so precious a recognition."

Lopez Obrador chose Ibarra to present him with a presidential sash of office in a ceremony declaring him the legitimate president of Mexico.

Ibarra continued to scrutinize force disappearances in Mexico and called for more progress regarding the matter.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Rosario Ibarra de Piedra abrió caminos hacia la justicia #EnPortada - from El Universal