Mexico: Disappeared Oil Workers

Forced disappearance is an issue that never really goes away. The massive number of disappearances in the Southern Cone in the late 1970s, which are the most publicised instances of Latin American repression and abduction by state agents, continue to be an open wound in society since the cases have never been solved. In most cases, the bodies of victims have not been discovered or identified, and perpetrators have not been punished. The relatives of the disappeared have not been given justice.

In addition, disappearances continue, albeit in far smaller numbers. Argentina has seen several instances of crucial witnesses in human rights trials disappearing in recent years (and, in the case of Puthod, reappearing). And now this article draws attention to the disappearance of oil workers in Mexico.

The more you consider the legacy of authoritarian rule in Latin America, the more you realise that you cannot ignore the continued abuses which take place in the present.

Mexico: Disappeared Oil Workers: Out of Sight, Out of Mind (IPS)