THEL violent kidnapping of Lorenza Cano it’s another fresh wound for her hundreds of mothers looking for the disappeared in Mexico. Around his house, pieces of glass from his front door and shell casings from fired bullets have just disappeared. All that remains is a few fragments of crime scene tape and the hope that the woman, one of hundreds in Mexico who after having a missing relative became activists, is still alive.
Lorenza Cano, the activist is a desaparicide
Cano’s brother, José Francisco, was kidnapped in 2018 and never found again. Now, she too is missing. Last week, gunmen entered his home in Salamanca, an industrial city in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, killing her husband and son and taking her away into the night.
Yet another kidnapping that has brought attention to one of Mexico’s most gruesome national tragedies: the phenomenon of the disappeared that therampant impunity and the involvement of public security forces in some of these crimes certainly do not help to defeat them.
A woman on the International Day of the Disappeared (Photo: Jair Cabrera Torres/dpa (Photo by Jair Cabrera Torres/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A terrified community
Ms. Cano’s passing has dealt a devastating blow to her community, where the War between cartels has sparked record violence in recent years. Alma Lilia Tapia, spokesperson for Salamanca United in the Search for the Disappeareda group of 206 families searching for their missing loved ones, of which Mrs. Cano is part, he told the New York Times that the question that is now on everyone’s lips is “When will they come to get me too?”. Mrs. Tapia is looking for her son, Gustavo Daryl, kidnapped in 2018 while he was working in his small business.
More than 94 thousand disappeared in Mexico
The government says more than 94,000 people are missing in Mexico, although the United Nations says the number may be a vast undercount. Indeed, most cases are not even reportedsince it is known that investigations are carried out in a superficial and in-depth manner.
Family members are left alone to search for clues and follow leads in desperate efforts to find their loved ones: «There is no protection – explained Mrs. Tapia who lives a few blocks from Mrs. Cano’s house – We are all at risk here. Violence in Guanajuato has increased in recent years due to the struggle for control between the Jalisco New Generation cartel and the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel. Around 21,200 people have been killed in the last six yearsaccording to government figures, making it one of the most dangerous states in Mexico.”
Anyone looking for missing loved ones becomes a target
And obviously even those searching for the missing have become targets: «The search for missing persons affects the interests of criminal groups, but also of state agents, and therefore constitutes a threat – Raymundo Sandoval, member of the Platform for Peace and Justice in Guanajuato, a coalition that offers support for the families of the missing – But this time It is unclear why Ms. Cano was targeted. She was not a high-profile activist and she mainly did administrative work since she had a bad hip that prevented her from going into the field. She surprised everyone because there had been no previous warning or clue.”
The president of Mexico: «We protect everyone»
Last week, during a press conference, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he had no information on the case, adding, however, that «every day we protect people and there is no impunity for anyone». But activists in Salamanca say they have little trust in local and federal authorities.
«We have no support from the government, no security or anything – explains María Elena Pérez, another member of the collective whose daughter, Martha Leticia, was kidnapped in 2018 – It’s absurd to have to look for our loved ones alone. This has to change».
The mayor of Salamanca, Julio César Prieto Gallardo, defended the actions of his administration: “It is not true that we do not offer support, the doors of the municipality of Salamanca are open.” This week, two men were arrested and charged with murder and disappearance in connection with Ms. Cano’s case. But Unfortunately, there is still no trace of the activist.
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