Amnesty International (AI) expressed this Thursday its “greatest concern” about the disappearance of Mariana Valeria Ibarra Ojeda, a searcher and daughter of a member of the 'Hasta Encontrarte' collective, in the state of Guanajuato, central Mexico. The 19-year-old young woman was reported missing on Wednesday, after she went to the store and did not return, in the neighborhood of Esfuerzo Obrero, in the city of Irapuato. “Amnesty International reminds the Attorney General's Office and the National Search Commission, both of Guanajuato, that the first 72 hours are crucial for finding women alive,” the NGO stated in a statement on social networks. Therefore, it made an urgent call to these authorities “to redouble efforts” to find the young woman. The 'Hasta Encontrarte' collective denounced the disappearance on its social networks, where it shared a search flyer, as part of its protocol for finding people alive. According to the flyer, Mariana Valeria was wearing red shorts, a white top with red and blue stripes, and a gray sweatshirt with lettering when she was last seen. As particular features, the young woman has tattoos under her eyes with the figures of “a cherry, a mochi cake, and little hands” and a Virgin of Guadalupe on her left calf. The collective also asked the population to share any information that can help locate her, assuring that it “will be treated with total anonymity.” A member of the collective, identified as Karla, told the media that the young woman is the daughter of a mother who is searching for her missing son in Guanajuato, without giving further details. Additionally, Karla shared that a young son is waiting for the young woman at home. Mexico accumulates more than 133,000 disappeared persons, a quarter of whom are women, and of them, more than half are under 24 years of age, according to figures from the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons (RNPDNO). Amnesty International warned in a recent report that nine out of every 10 searchers in Mexico are women fighting to find their loved ones, and of them, at least 97% suffer violence and reprisals for carrying out a task that corresponds to the State. EFE
