The news that no one wanted to read (but we all expected)
It seems that in Mexico the “#JusticiaPara” has become a more lasting trending topic than kitten memes. The authorities of Oaxaca—yes, that state where mezcal is safer than walking at night—confirmed what we already suspected: they found activist Sandra Domínguez and her husband Alexander Hernández dead, six months after their disappearance made noise online (because, let’s be honest, the silence in the prosecutor’s offices is deafening).
The macabre details (because horror sells)
The bodies appeared in clandestine graves in Veracruz—the neighbor that no one wants to have—because apparently criminals love cross-border shopping. It took days for the prosecution to confirm their identity, which makes us wonder: are they using 90s technology or are they just paid by the hour? Meanwhile, human rights organizations, such as the UN, had been repeating “I told you so” for months with the frustration of someone watching a horror movie in slow motion.
Sandra, in addition to being a lawyer, was a fierce defender of the Mixe peoples. In 2020, she made misogynistic officials tremble by sharing photos of indigenous women with comments worthy of a WhatsApp group of boomer guys. Spoiler: since then, threats were his daily newsletter. His friend Joaquín Galván said it without mincing words: “It was a matter of time.” And here we are, with another case that ends in a hashtag and zero convictions.
The modus operandi (or “how Mexico normalizes the abnormal”)
In January, during an operation to search for them, there was a confrontation that left four dead (three alleged criminals and a police officer). AR-15 and AK-47 rifles were seized—because in Mexico weapons are more accessible than Infonavit credit. The prosecution points to criminal cells in Veracruz, and they arrested a woman, because in this tragicomedy there is always an insufficient plot twist.
As if there was no drama, in 2021 two other defenders disappeared in Oaxaca, and in Puebla Sergio Cruz, a Nahua indigenous person, was shot. Conclusion? Being an activist in Mexico has more risk than gambling in the casino blindfolded. The UN recorded at least 9 murders of defenders in 2024, but we all know that the official figures are like CVs: disguised.
What’s next? Probably a Twitter memorial, some official saying “we will not tolerate this” (while signing another cut to the human rights budget), and then… silence. Until the next case.
Did it outrage you? Share this note. Because if we learned anything, it is that social pressure is the only “protocol” that sometimes works. #JusticeForSandrayAlexander.
Do you want more stories like this? Explore our content on social struggles in Latin America —spoiler: they don’t have happy endings, but someone has to tell them.
