Chihuahua does not remain silent: the collective cry against forced disappearance
Imagine this scenario: an anti-monument called “Representing Hopes”, which sounds like the title of an overly pretentious indie film, but is actually the epicenter of a heartbreaking struggle. There, right in front of the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chihuahua, families and groups gathered that are more fed up than us when our internet goes down. The reason: the International Day of Victims of Forced Disappearances, a date that no one should have on their calendar, but that for thousands is a constant reality.
It was not just any meeting. It was an act of memory in a country where, literally, we have normalized the intolerable. How dystopian does it sound that more than 130 thousand people are missing and that more than 70 thousand bodies remain unidentified? It sounds like a Black Mirror season, but it’s real life in Mexico. And Chihuahua is no exception: more than 4 thousand families carry the pain of living without their loved ones. And the State? He seems more lost than us at IKEA.
Indignation that turns into action
The attendees, with a patience that even yogis no longer have, came with a clear message for the State Congress: “Nothing about us without us”. Basically, they told them: “Hey, deputies, you can’t create a prosecutor’s office specialized in disappearances without consulting us, as if we were choosing the color of the curtains.” Audacity, right?
But it doesn’t end there. It turns out that they found out that there is an initiative to create this Specialized Disappearance Prosecutor’s Office without anyone having asked them. Sound familiar? Like when your family plans a dinner without considering that you are vegan. For this reason, they began a collection of signatures to let the deputies know that their demand is clear: without the families and without the victims, there is nothing to do. Because, let’s be honest, who knows the situation better than those who live it every day?
And they didn’t just stop at the speech. They also directly pointed out the State Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, the churches and society in general for their indifference to pain. Because, seriously, how can we continue to look the other way when thousands of people are looking for their loved ones? It’s as if we were all in airplane mode, but without the option to reactivate ourselves.
The anti-monument was filled with new plaques with names of missing people, each one representing a truncated story, an endless search. And while the groups from different cities in Chihuahua joined forces, their message resonated with unstoppable force: “This horror should never have become everyday.” And yet, here we are.
So, if you thought this was just another demonstration, you’re wrong. It is a resistance against impunity and oblivion, a defense of the dignity of those we love and a fight for a Chihuahua where no other family has to bear the absence of a loved one. Because, in the end, as they said: “Families should not be living this.” And yet, they are doing it, with a bravery that should leave us all speechless.
And now what? Well, it’s time to listen, support and above all, not look the other way. Because if these families teach us anything, it is that indifference is the worst enemy of justice.
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