In Mexico, a mass grave of ashes, bones and hundreds of items of clothing found earlier this month has led to a promise of action by President Claudia Scheinbaum. The discovery has generated anger and mass protests across the country.
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00:00Guillermina's son, Jorge Alberto, walked out the door on March 24, 2017, and never
00:07came back. He's one of over 3,800 people missing in Zacatecas in central Mexico, where
00:14vast distances and organised crime make it nearly impossible for families to search for
00:19their loved ones.
00:21Well, we don't have the funds to move us all, or a vehicle which can take all of us.
00:32And we need to be official because it's too dangerous for private individuals to travel
00:37alone.
00:42Authorities provide police escorts, but the mothers do the searching themselves, often
00:48at great personal risk. Meanwhile, disappearances keep rising. Corruption, lack of resources
00:56and poor coordination hinder efforts by groups like the National Search Commission. Human
01:02rights groups accuse the previous government of downplaying the numbers.
01:08Human rights lawyer Yesenia Valdez explains.
01:11There were high hopes when a National Search Commission was created. Now, little by little,
01:19the institution is being dismantled. Not only have those in charge been replaced, but there
01:24have also been significant budget cuts, which means fewer workers. These disappearances
01:32are being made invisible, the figures are manipulated and there's impunity. It's sending
01:37the message that in Mexico, anyone can vanish without consequences.
01:44The discovery of skeletal remains in Jalisco triggered nationwide protests and outrage.
01:51President Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to improve coordination between prosecutors.
01:58But mothers say these measures already exist and they just aren't being enforced. In the
02:04end, it's the families who risk their lives to search for answers. Elvia Reyes even received
02:12death threats while looking for her son, Luis Antonio.
02:20We've been investigating with the people involved in the case. We've been investigating with
02:25them and they have given us some leads discreetly about where they might be. We found a lot
02:34of charred remains, a lot of charred remains. We took them to the prosecutor's office and
02:41five years later, six years later, we've had no findings about the things we brought to
02:46them.
02:53But finding results remains an uphill battle, especially in the absence of resources and
02:59political will.