Today, in spite of the terrible offense that the Mexican State is committing by not administering justice and not presenting our family members alive, and in spite of all the intimidation against us, we assure you that we are keeping on and that we will keep on in our struggle until our loved ones are found. We can’t allow this crime committed against them cannot go unpunished, much less permit this kind of thing to grow in our country. To those who say that forced disappearances don’t exist in Mexico, we ask: Where, then, are Edmundo, Gabriel, Daniela, Virginia, Francisco, Lauro, Gregorio and all those other people whose names we don’t know because they’ve been made invisible by the State, which has brutalized and threatened their family members so that they won’t speak out and say that there are even more disappeared people in Mexico? We all know the answer, but sometimes it’s easier to think that everything’s all right because thinking differently gets us into serious conflicts.
Forced disappearance exists. Disappeared people exist, and they’re the reason we’re struggling. They’re the reason we’ve decided to walk this road together, to demand their live presentation, and to call on all the other family members—those of you who have been terrorized by this or prior regimes into not speaking out and demanding the live presentation of your disappeared loved ones––to do the same. We know how much suffering this entails and the terrible fear that it provokes, yet we want to tell you that this fear can be converted into strength, into hope, into struggle, and that’s the only way we’re going to be able to confront this terrible situation.
The disappearance of our loved ones never ceases to cause us pain, but if we don’t do anything for them and remain silent, it just means that all this will continue and that many other people will suffer what we are suffering. That’s why it’s so important for all of us to participate, including all the solidarity and human rights organizations that, with their declarations and activities, help us to denounce and demand the live presentation of our loved ones.
The struggle and efforts of family, friends, and people in solidarity make it more possible to stay on this road we’ve taken. And so we want to give our eternal gratitude to all those national and international organizations that have helped us in our struggle and to the news media that have published reports about these cases.
When we first started out, the horizon looked dark and cold, but now we feel warmth and light on this road towards finding our disappeared people. It doesn’t matter how much time it takes. It doesn’t matter if our family member has the same ideals that another person has. It doesn’t matter what organization he or she is in. What’s truly important is that these disappeared people are HUMAN BEINGS and what’s happening to them could happen to any one of us.
First Edmundo y Gabriel, (disappeared on May 25, 2007 in the city of Oaxaca) then Daniela and Virginia Ortiz Ramírez, (disappeared on July 5, 2007, in Oaxaca) then Francisco Paredes Ruiz,( disappeared September 26, 2007 in Michoacán) and later, Lauro Juárez, (disappeared December 30, 2007) and formerly Gregorio Alfonso Alvarado López (disappeared September 26, 1996 in Guerrero). How many more? Should we allow even more people to be forcibly disappeared? Our answer is: not a single one. Today we refuse to tolerate even one more disappearance.
Today, just as we did more than thirty years ago, we women have decided to take to the streets to demand the life presentation of our disappeared people. Daughters, wives, sisters, and mothers are in the forefront of this struggle along with our male comrades because we know that only through unity will we be able to achieve compliance with our demands.
Caminos e Historias is a clear example of women’s struggle—of the tremendous obstacles faced and courageously overcome. Caminos e historias is the reflection of work done by women, who have not been turned back by the stones in their path to achieve their goals and keep struggling to hand down a better way of life to all of us.
Today it’s important to say that, thanks to these women who have struggled and demanded their rights, we can be here right now, and also to say that they’ve been an example for us to follow, just as our own disappeared people have been. Today, from the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you for showing us that barriers don’t exist when our force and dedication is directed towards transforming our historic role and proving that we’re able to achieve what we’ve proposed, and more. And so we send our recognition and admiration to each and every one of you.
THEY TOOK THEM AWAY ALIVE AND WE WANT THEM BACK ALIVE!
Nadin Reyes Maldonado
Comité “Hasta Encontrarlos” (Until we find them)