In 1945, German citizens could not ignore the concentration camps, forced to walk among the devastation. For years, in Mexico, people have denied facing the harsh reality. What has been found in Jalisco is a fully operational extermination apparatus, which completely changes the landscape.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is clear: a crime against humanity involves killings, enforced disappearances, or systematic extermination of civilians. What has been found in Teuchitlán meets these criteria and is not an isolated event. Mexico is at a critical point where it must decide whether to merely be outraged or to finally take action.
The horror found at the ranch in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, reveals a chilling machinery of mass violence in Mexico. The question that lingers is why the authorities do not properly name this atrocity. President Claudia Sheinbaum has ordered the Attorney General's Office to investigate the case, but it is crucial to act and not repeat patterns of omission.
Mexican society is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. It is necessary to recognize that the disappearance of thousands of people and the brutality uncovered in Jalisco are not isolated events. History teaches us that horror does not arise from nothing and that turning a blind eye only worsens the situation.
For years, groups of mothers and searchers have denounced the existence of clandestine ovens in several regions of Mexico. It is essential that authorities do not treat this situation as just another public security issue. If Mexico wants to change its course, it must face this humanitarian crisis with courage and determination.
The discovery in Teuchitlán has shocked public opinion, revealing a criminal infrastructure aimed at erasing bodies and traces. The personal belongings found are evidence of lives that have been brutally taken away. The violence of drug trafficking has evolved to a level of atrocity that can no longer be ignored.
Extermination in Mexico is already underway, advancing in shadows and silence. As a society, the question we will be left with is how we allowed this to happen and what measures we will take to prevent it from happening again in the future.
