A Legacy of Action and Response to Tragedy
Mexico City.- Within the framework of an anniversary that still shakes the foundations of the collective soul, the city’s Human Rights Commission (CDH) has revealed a figure that resonates with the force of an epic triumph against adversity. It handled a staggering 98 percent of the complaints filed by the brave victims of the catastrophic accident on September 19, 2017! This is not a simple number; It is a testimony of struggle, perseverance and an unwavering commitment to justice.
The clock of history marked a period of eight years, from that fateful day in 2017 to the fateful cutoff on September 15, 2025. In this period, a torrent of 514 complaint files flooded the Commission’s offices, each one a story of pain, fractured hope and a life forever altered. Of this ocean of claims, only 10 remain in the final battle, in progress, fighting for their final resolution. The process indicators, the result of meticulous surveillance, report compliance that borders on perfection, a close and resounding 100 percent, as well as the overwhelming conclusion of almost all of the files.
The Long and Winding Road to Reconstruction
The files were not simple papers; They were materialized cries for help. Among them were desperate pleas to receive income support, rulings on properties that teetered between life and ruin to begin their rehabilitation or inevitable demolition, accusations of administrative irregularities that smacked of betrayal, and the omnipresent shadow of lack of attention and transparency. The complaints about buildings that were fatally wounded were concentrated, like scars on the skin of the city, in the municipalities of Cuauhtémoc, Iztapalapa, Benito Juárez, Tláhuac and Xochimilco.
To face this titanic undertaking, the Commission designed a strategy divided into four acts of an epic reconstruction work. From 2017 to 2019, the emergency and diagnosis stage, a time of chaos where every second counted to carry out opinions, studies and demolitions that avoided imminent risks. The second act, from 2019 to 2021, saw the light of the rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery of properties and services, a beacon of hope in the gloom.
The final two stages focused on attention to social infrastructure and technical regularization between 2022 and 2023, while from 2024 to 2025 changes in planning were reviewed to strengthen prevention, a solemn oath so that history does not repeat itself. In this colossal journey, the CHR issued the crucial recommendations 12/2018 and 13/2028, the latter being the only one that has crossed the finish line, completely fulfilled. Six monitoring reports were presented between 2019 and 2024, with 40 indicators that painted a panorama of acceptable and adequate progress, allowing this monumental chapter to be concluded.
According to figures from the Reconstruction Commission, of the 22 thousand homes that groaned in pain after the earthquake, 20 thousand properties have been rehabilitated and returned to a population that deserved to recover their home. Each delivery was a victory, a piece of peace snatched from tragedy.
This is the story of a city that refused to bow down, of an institution that became the shield of the vulnerable and of a process that, although with wounds yet to fully heal, is approaching its culmination with a determination that inspires amazement.
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