On Sunday, the LaGlorieta de los Desaparecidos on Paseo de la Reforma became the field for the first in a series of 'cascaritas' (informal football matches) that collectives of searchers for missing persons will carry out as part of the 2026 World Cup. The objective is to show the world the crisis of disappearances in Mexico, which exceeds 130,000 people, and to warn visitors of the danger they face. Jorge Verástegui, who has been searching for his brother and nephew since 2009, explained at a press conference that the initiative is called 'Hagamos que suceda. Hasta encontrarles' (Let's make it happen. Until we find them). It seeks to break the information blockade and show millions of visitors and foreign media the humanitarian crisis that he accused the official discourse of trying to make invisible. 'The government intends to use this event as a showcase of normality; the families will take to the streets to remind them that Mexico cannot be a sports venue while it continues to be a mass grave,' he said. He indicated that the campaign is 'also a measure of prevention and warning for those visiting the country, where impunity is the norm.' Verástegui took the opportunity to express the support of the search collectives for the report of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which President Claudia Sheinbaum and the National Human Rights Commission have dismissed in the last week. Meanwhile, Héctor Flores, father of Héctor Daniel Flores Fernández, who disappeared in 2021, said he is eager for the crisis of disappearances in Mexico to be taken to the United Nations General Assembly, as he believes this will show the world the reality that the Mexican government has refused to see. 'We are eagerly awaiting the issue being taken to the United Nations General Assembly, in Mexico people disappear every day, in Mexico every day they torture, murder, and commit crimes against humanity.' 'The World Cup will be an international showcase to demonstrate to the entire community what is being experienced in this country and all the serious violations of human rights, that despite the governments, their ideologies, their way of wanting to manage the crisis, they want to silence us,' expressed the searcher. Liliana Meza, founder of the 'Luz de Esperanza' collective in Jalisco, added that for the searching families 'it is very hard to hear the president come out and say that these forced disappearances do not exist; that since the '4T' there are no longer these disappearances and that her only work is to lower the figures, but not by finding people but by embellishing all these state and federal figures'.
Protest in Mexico City Against Disappearance Crisis Ahead of World Cup 2026
Activists in Mexico City held football matches to protest the country's disappearance crisis, which has over 130,000 cases. They called on the international community to pay attention to the humanitarian issue and warned tourists of the dangers.
