A group in Sonora that searches for missing people published a video this week asking cartel leaders to assure the safety of those looking for the disappeared.
Madres Buscadoras de Sonora, or Sonora’s Searching Mothers, released the video on social media.
Group founder Ceci Patricia Flores pleads with cartels that operate in Sonora not to attack searchers or impede their work to find the disappeared. Flores fled Sonora last year after facing threats and after the murder of a fellow searcher.
"We're asking that you don't kill us; that you don't disappear us; that you don't threaten us; that you allow us to continue looking for our children," she said. "We're not looking for those responsible. We're not looking for justice. The only thing we want is to bring [our loved ones] home."
In response, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his government will protect Sonoran searching groups. But the group's leader says they want a direct audience with the president and have so far been denied.
Last month, Mexican searchers recreated clandestine graves in front of the National Palace urging the president to address what they call a crisis of disappearances.
Nearly 100,000 people are missing in the country, according the a national searching commission.
Estoy afuera de su casa señor presidente @lopezobrador_ en nombre de quienes formamos @buscadorasonora le tomamos la palabra. Queremos hablar con usted. Pero sin ofender nuestra inteligencia, sin mentiras y sin simulaciones. Gracias. pic.twitter.com/4Hde4mEsTu
— Ceci Flores 6623415616 (@CeciPatriciaF) January 5, 2022
