The country is in outrage after the discovery of a mass grave last week in Mexico’s Jalisco state.
On Monday, March 17th, President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged stronger efforts to search for missing people in the country.
“Today I am signing a decree to strengthen the National Search Commission to expand its care capacity, context analysis, and the acquisition of technological equipment that accompanies the search with scientific evidence.”
The president also said she would send a reform to Congress on Thursday that would make it easier to identify missing persons and make the number of missing people more transparent.
The recently uncovered mass grave was found at a ranch in the town of Teuchitlan.
Civilian activists found ashes, bones, and hundreds of items of clothing that are still being checked by authorities, along with ovens possibly used to cremate bodies.
Mexico has over 124,000 missing people, according to government data, largely as a result of drug cartel violence.
Murdered people in Mexico are often buried in clandestine – sometimes mass – graves.
The recent discovery has spurred a national outcry and put pressure on Sheinbaum.
Her Monday announcements came after protests and vigils across the country on Saturday to demand more official actions.
Ana Enamorada, the mother of a disappeared person who is part of a collective group searching for missing people said on Saturday that President Sheinbaum must do more.
“As president of the country, you must recognize the grave crisis of disappearances that materializes with the discovery of extermination camps, cremation chambers, and clandestine graves. A machinery of death that reminds us of the worst parts of the history of mankind.”
On Monday, Sheinbaum also said that justice for the victims of disappearance requires “maximum attention”.
And that officials would provide information about the investigation into the Jalisco case on Wednesday.
Authorities have not given an estimate of how many bodies were in the grave.
Last week, the state prosecutor’s office said it had set up an online platform detailing nearly 600 personal items found at the ranch.
The platform is public, allowing people to identify them.
Tests are also being carried out on hundreds of items of clothing, bullet casings, and skeleton fragments.
San Miguel Times
Newsroom
