Mexico's Missing Persons Exceeds 100,000 | Over 400 Americans Disappeared Mysteriously

The number of missing persons in Mexico has already exceeded more than 100,000 and among them were 473 American citizens.

According to Milenio, the highest rate of missing persons by far is in the states of Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Veracruz, and the State of Mexico.

From March 15, 1964 to May 16 this year, the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons (RNPDNO) recorded 100,008 people who mysteriously just disappeared.

Out of the reported number of missing persons in Mexico, 74,729 were men, while 24,763 were women. The missing men represent 74.72 percent of the disappeared persons, while women represent 24.76 percent. Meanwhile, the gender of 516 people, representing 0.52 percent, were still not determined.

Jalisco is the state with the most number of missing people at 14,971, followed by Tamaulipas with 11,971; the State of Mexico with 10,996; Nuevo León with 6,222; and Veracruz with 5,736.

The year 2021 was determined to be the year with the most number of missing persons in the country's recent history. According to National Search Commission data, 9,732 people went missing in Mexico in 2021, followed by 2019 with 9,254; 8,812 in 2020; 7,592 in 2017; 7,578 in 2018; and 5,960 in 2016.

In this data, 473 Americans in Mexico were reported missing, 421 Hondurans, 355 Guatemalans, 163 Colombians, 170 Salvadorans, 55 Nicaraguans, 51 Cubans, 40 Ecuadorians, 33 Venezuelans, 32 Canadians, 28 Peruvians, and 25 Indians.

Fifteen Argentinians, 15 Belizeans, 12 Brazilians, 10 Italians, seven Spaniards, six Dominicans, six Haitians, five English, five Moroccans, four Polish, four Swiss, four Japanese, four Paraguayans, two Afghans, and two Costa Ricans also went missing in Mexico.

Missing Persons in Mexico

Angélica Durán-Martínez, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and an expert on violence in Latin America, earlier said that "disappearance is perhaps the most extreme form of suffering for relatives of victoms."

Durán-Martínez noted that the crisis of disappearances in Mexico speaks to the prevalence of organized crime and the propensity for state security forces to be engaged in the violence, like in the case of missing 43 students in 2014, the New York Times reported.

The disappearances in Mexico are being blamed on various culprits, namely organized crime gangs, the military, police, or some combination of all three.

Last month, a United Nations committee said Mexico must act immediately to address the alarming trend of increasing enforced disappearances.

The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances said organized crime had become a leading perpetrator of disappearances in Mexico, "with varying degrees of participation, acquiescence or omission by public servants," France24 reported.

The committee noted that victims and authorities also reported disappearances for trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Response

According to Al Jazeera, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador signed the creation of a truth commission in 2018 to investigate the kidnapping of 43 students in an apparent massacre. Lopez Obrador announced the move two days after being sworn in as president in 2018.

Washington Post reported that Mexico saw the second-most disappearances on record during Lopez Obrador's first term.

José Miguel Vivanco, head of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, said the figures at the time constituted "an atrocity on a truly massive scale."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Latin Americans Slam Alleged Inaction in Mexico's Missing Persons Cases - From Al Jazeera English