Mexico – In Memory of the Missing: A Day of Joint Activities in Oaxaca.
We hereby share an unofficial translation of a statement published by Sol Rojo on the 8th of May.
On May 9 and 10, the platform of United Collectives and Organizations in Oaxaca is preparing to launch a series of broader activities to reinforce the demand for the search for missing persons and their immediate return alive.
Mothers and families of the disappeared are upholding the right to truth and justice amid the war against the people that Mexico is facing, a conflict that has intensified due to the corporatization and militarization driven by the governments of the self-proclaimed “Fourth Transformation,” which have in fact continued the economic policies dictated by imperialism, mainly Yankee imperialism.
In Mexico, there are currently more than 132,500 missing persons according to official figures, in addition to 72,000 unidentified bodies, with a count that was suspended by presidential order since the end of AMLO’s six-year term. The country is riddled with clandestine graves, while national and local Search Commissions, as well as prosecutors’ offices, merely manage the situation. A prime example of this is the state of Oaxaca, where there are currently more than 708 missing persons, 108 of whom have gone missing in the last 15 months.
While the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances has initiated the procedure under Article 34 of the Convention, and Amnesty International is calling for a national emergency to be declared in response to the growing wave of disappearances in our country, the Mexican government remains tight-lipped, rejecting the conclusions of these organizations and refusing to address the issue. At the federal level, Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration keeps the doors closed to dialogue with the families of the disappeared; at the state level, Salomón Jara’s administration has still not approved the state search program since late 2024. The state’s omissions are not a mistake, but a symptom of the systematic nature of this phenomenon throughout the country, reminding us that the disappearance of persons is a crime against humanity.
IT’S BEEN 8 YEARS!
This May 10 marks the eighth anniversary of the forced disappearance of our comrade Dr. Ernesto Sernas García, which occurred at his home in San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca.
Dr. Sernas is a professor at the Benito Juárez Autonomous University of Oaxaca (UABJO), an essayist, a lecturer, and a researcher. The most recent cases he represented as a defense attorney were the defense of the political prisoners of June 7, 2015 (Opinion 17/2016—UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Recommendation 05/2018 – DDHPO), and the support provided to the displaced Triqui families from San Miguel Copala (Recommendation 14/2025 DDHPO).
His disappearance coincided with a crucial moment in the criminal proceedings against 23 activists accused of terrorism and possession of explosives reserved for the Mexican Army, whom Dr. Sernas was representing in court. Thus, while the FGEO and the local search commission use the narrative of a “historical truth” for personal reasons (without providing evidence), the high-ranking officials from the police forces implicated in this crime enjoy total impunity and have been rewarded with promotions and new public offices.
Comrade Ernesto Sernas García belongs to a generation of democratic activists who, with class consciousness and a deep love for the people, laid the foundations for the formation of the “Current of the People – Red Sun” which, following its Second Political Congress, has taken a qualitative leap forward to become the FRONT OF THE PEOPLE – RED SUN.
STANDING WITH THE MOTHERS AND FAMILIES OF THE MISSING, AGAINST THE DISAPPEARANCE OF PEOPLE!
The platform of United Collectives and Organizations in Oaxaca has organized a day of activities that will build in intensity to support the mothers and families searching for their loved ones in Oaxaca as they press their legitimate demands on the state and federal prosecutors’ offices and governments.
The family of Dr. Ernesto Sernas García and FRONT OF THE PEOPLE – RED SUN are actively participating in this platform, and we will be present during all the activities scheduled for this day.
Eight years after the state-sponsored crime of the forced disappearance of our comrade Dr. Ernesto Sernas García, his family, comrades, and friends continue to demand:
Truth and Justice!
Bring the guilty to justice alive!
#DrSernasPresentaciónConVida
They took them alive, and we want them back alive!
Combatively:
The family of Dr. Sernas García
FRONT OF THE PEOPLE – RED SUN
Combative May 2026
