{"id":210,"date":"2020-09-04T06:35:15","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T06:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hastaencontrarles.com\/?p=210"},"modified":"2020-09-08T17:26:10","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T17:26:10","slug":"una-oracion-por-los-desaparecidos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hastaencontrarles.com\/eng\/2020\/09\/04\/una-oracion-por-los-desaparecidos\/","title":{"rendered":"A prayer for the disappeared"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

A prayer for the disappeared<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

This investigation was carried out over four years,<\/strong>collecting testimonies, visiting cemeteries, coroners\u2019 offices, interviewing officials and specialists, and filing freedom of information requests.<\/strong><\/em>Some of that information was only released after legal challenges. In all that time, little or nothing has changed: there are people searching for disappeared family members and there are unidentified dead buried in common graves.<\/span><\/p>

By: Hasta Encontrarles<\/b><\/i><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cWe give thanks because we have found this treasure. We give thanks for the person who helped us find you, and we give thanks because you are now going to return home, you beautiful being, whomever you are. Now your mother, your family will be able to rest peacefully. Now we will not rest until you are identified and you ascend in glory and light after all this. May the universe continue to help us to keep searching and finding to bring them all home.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Maria Isabel Cruz Bernal, searching for her son Yosimar Garc\u00eda Cruz, a municipal police officer in Culiac\u00e1n, disappeared on January 26, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

No. They\u2019re not all alive, although they were alive when they were taken. And it is their mothers and fathers, sisters, sisters-in-law, and friends who have left their homes to move the entire universe to find their family members. They are succeeding, and they pray:<\/span><\/p>

Our father, who art in heaven<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Hallowed be thy name<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Thy kingdom come<\/span><\/i><\/p>

On earth as it is in Heaven<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Give us each day our daily bread<\/span><\/i><\/p>

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Lead us not into temptation<\/span><\/i><\/p>

And deliver us from evil<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Amen.<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Among undergrowth and piles of wet earth that serve as a reminder of the previous day\u2019s rain, the cicadas are buzzing. The noise is deafening, and it echoes around the clandestine grave where the bones of a person are lying. Perhaps it was a man, because of the long femur and the prominent jaw that has a few teeth with braces still attached.<\/span><\/p>

It is July 10, and the members of the Sabuesos Guerreras collective are searching. The group has more than 300 families who share the same pain, the same absence of a loved one who was taken.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cWe received an anonymous message from a man, and he asked us to come, because it wasn\u2019t right to see so many bones scattered here,\u201d explained Mar\u00eda Isabel Cruz Bernal, founder of the collective. She takes a phone from her bag to play a video, where the man shows the route to reach the area, a rugged spot near Campo El Diez, to the south of Sinaloa\u2019s capital, Culiac\u00e1n.<\/span><\/p>

They are families who do not rest and carry a weight and an anger from not knowing what has become of their sons, brothers, cousins, husbands, in-laws, and friends. They suffer from anxiety, insomnia, and paranoia. Everything reminds them of their missing, the smell of perfume, the shadows, the food. Everything.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cEver since they took him, I haven\u2019t been able to sleep well. I couldn\u2019t last night either, even though I knew we were searching today. It\u2019s impossible, because you are haunted by the memories, the thoughts. Everything,\u201d says Magaly Castillo Rodr\u00edguez, mother of Mart\u00edn Alejandro L\u00f3pez Castillo, a teenager who was disappeared on July 31, 2018, in the Alturas del Sur neighborhood of Culiacan by a group of men on motorcycles.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

In Sinaloa there are 15 collectives of people with disappeared family members. That is understandable, given the announcement that was made three days after the bones were discovered in El Diez.<\/span><\/p>

On July 13, the Interior Ministry released a new report about disappeared individuals and clandestine graves that gave dimension to the degree of barbarity in the state.<\/span><\/p>

In Mexico there are 75,065 cases of missing persons, and Mexico State, Jalisco, Tamauliapas, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Mexico City, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Michoac\u00e1n, Puebla, and Chihuahua have 70% of those cases.<\/span><\/p>

In Sinaloa alone there are 9,760 documented cases of disappearance. Of those, 4,880 are still missing.<\/span><\/p>

En los registros de la Comisi\u00f3n Nacional de B\u00fasqueda<\/a> y la Fiscal\u00eda General de Sinaloa se indica tambi\u00e9n sobre 4 mil 880 personas fueron encontradas, pero 886 de ellas las hallaron sin vida. Por eso las familias piden a Dios por el descanso.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cThanks be to God for having found them, now another family can rest. We hope that you will soon be with your loved ones.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

- Victoria Soto V\u00e1zquez. Searching for her brother, Pedro Soto V\u00e1zquez. Disappeared August 17, 2017.<\/span><\/p>

With regards to clandestine graves, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Colima, Guerrero y Sonora are the states with the most, representing 57 percent of all found in the country between 2018 and 2020.<\/span><\/p>

In Sinaloa alone at least 151 clandestine graves were discovered, with the bodies of 253 people, although not all have been identified and returned to families<\/span><\/p>

Among the problems faced by the families is that the state has only one forensic team, and it operates in Culiac\u00e1n. The Attorney General\u2019s office has revealed in response to freedom of information requests that there is a shortage of personnel due to budget shortfalls, and that when a person is found in a clandestine grave in another region, such as Choix, El Fuerte, or Ahome, in the north of the State, the body must be analyzed in the state capital. The same happens with the municipalities in the south of the state.<\/span><\/p>

Meanwhile, those bodies, skeletons, and remains found outside of Culiac\u00e1n are deposited in morgues or common graves. That is why the families pray and give thanks when they are found.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI give thanks to God that we are here, and that you are going to return home, whoever you are it makes me happy, because you will be with your family\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Magaly Castillo Rodr\u00edguez. Searching for her son, Mart\u00edn Alejandro L\u00f3pez Castillo. Disappeared July 31, 2018.<\/span><\/p>

Finding the disappeared in clandestine graves has become an essential balm for the pain, but it is just the beginning of the journey for the searchers.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The forensic staff of the state attorney general\u2019s office work in Culiac\u00e1n, although they could also operate in Ahome, Angostura o Mazatl\u00e1n, where the state government constructed coroner\u2019s offices, but those three buildings are not in service.<\/span><\/p>

The office in Ahome is empty, unoccupied, despite having been built at a cost of more than 4 million pesos. The office in Angostura is being used as a base for judicial police. The office in Mazatl\u00e1n was converted into a warehouse for unidentified bodies, because the cemeteries were full. That is why the buscadoras pray also for the families with missing loved ones.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cLike all my compa\u00f1eras, I wish with all my heart that the family that is waiting sees you return home, whoever they are, and that they are happy to have you home, and give you a Christian burial, bring flowers or candles to your grave, because that is where all our disappeared treasures should be.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Juana Esperanza L\u00f3pez Valenzuela. Searching for her son, Omar Zazueta L\u00f3pez. Disappeared December 1, 2018.<\/span><\/p>

The nonoperational buildings of the forensic service are one part of the explanation for the barbarity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

On August 8, 2016 the state inaugurated the Forensic Medical Laboratory in Culiac\u00e1n. Four years later, it has analyzed the bodies of 1,465 people, of which 676 were identified and claimed by family members.<\/span><\/p>

But prior to this, due to the lack of forensic capabilities, more than a thousand people were labeled as \u201cunidentified\u201d and buried in common graves in mausoleums and cemeteries, according to official data released in response to freedom of information requests. For this, the families give thanks and pray for those who help them search.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI give thanks to God for having found you, and thanks to the person who told us. One more family will rest.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

Jos\u00e9 Feliciano Ram\u00edrez Ram\u00edrez. Searching for his son, Carlos Omar Ram\u00edrez Esparza. Disappeared January 18, 2018.<\/span><\/p>

Those bodies are in 12 graveyards, divided among the municipalities of Mazatl\u00e1n, Culiac\u00e1n, Angostura, Salvador Alvarado, Ahome, and El Fuerte.<\/span><\/p>

They were buried, and the Attorney General\u2019s office has lost the records, because in 2017, when a constitutional reform made the office independent, the information was discarded.<\/span><\/p>

The hope is with the gravediggers and cemetery administrators who guard in their memory the locations of the bodies, some in mausoleums and others below the ground. This somber landscape is unmarked by headstones or crosses to identify the tombs. This is why the collectives always pray that those exhumed from clandestine graves are identified and returned to their families as fast as possible.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cSoon you will be with your family, whoever you are, and I am thankful because surely it was you who said \u2018here I am\u2019 to someone who was passing by and they told us. You are okay now\u2026 now you can rest, you are going back to your family, not as we would have wanted, but you will be where they can bring you a flower, a candle, and we hope it will be very soon.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>

- Rosa Neriz. Searching for her brother-in-law Daniel Zavala Mart\u00ednez. Disappeared April 23, in Monclova, Coahuila.<\/span><\/p>

The Sinaloa state Attorney General\u2019s office states that half of all disappeared persons are found, nevertheless a large number of cases have yet to return home.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

In total, there are 4,880 open cases of disappeared men and women. In a normal investigative process, those 4,880 would be the subject of searches by judicial police officers, but in Sinaloa, this crime\u2014one of the most frequent\u2014is handled by only 15 agents.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is to say, each agent has an average caseload of 325 disappearances, and the numbers have been increasing over the past five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason for this increase in disappearance has not been explained by the state government nor the attorney general. On one hand, Juan Jos\u00e9 R\u00edos Estavillo, the attorney general, says that there are several factors that must be analyzed, among them the role of criminal groups, but he has yet to offer a concrete diagnosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the disappearances have people, groups, involved. Some of those cases occur when people arrive with guns. So there are some things that might be identifiable,\u201d R\u00edos Estavillo said during an interview in March, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same thing occurred with the director of the state public security system, the state government entity tasked with designing and managing anti-crime policies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Renato Ocampo Alc\u00e1ntar, director of the system, blames the state\u2019s inability to diagnose disappearances on a lack of coordination with the attorney general\u2019s office, since much of the information about the cases is located in confidential files due to the sensitive information they contain. That is why the buscadoras are always grateful they do not have to rely on the authorities when they search.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the universe that we found you, because you are going home, a family is going to rest, and we wish we hadn\u2019t found you like this, but we are thankful. We give thinks and hope that we can identify you soon.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n