The recent report from the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) has placed Mexico in an extremely awkward position. The report calls on the UN Secretary-General to bring the issue of disappearances in Mexico before the General Assembly. As soon as the report was made public, vehement voices of rejection were raised from the nation's highest podium. Critics point to methodological errors in quantifying figures, in the timeline, and in the lack of consideration for the government's efforts in recent years, even questioning the independence of the committee of experts, whose president immediately retorted that this body, indeed independent, is part of the United Nations. The international criticism has clearly put the current administration in a highly uncomfortable position, which has done everything possible to minimize the exorbitant number of disappeared in the country through statistical mechanisms that, far from appeasing criticism, have fueled it domestically and now transcend to the sphere of the world's highest body, of which we are a part by sovereign decision. The issue naturally causes concern in the government leadership, given the implications that exposure at the highest level of the community of nations could have, not only of a reputational nature, but politically and particularly economically. It must be taken into account that the source of the disappearances is linked to the high levels of insecurity recorded in the territory and to the violent action of criminal gangs that have been classified by the U.S. government as terrorists. Whether conceptually, methodologically, or politically the CED report may have inaccuracies, what is undeniable is that Mexico is in the international spotlight, from international organizations whose purpose is mutual evaluation and to which the country has voluntarily joined, and consequently should be co-responsible for the diagnoses they produce and the recommendations that emanate from them, as they are part of our legal framework. Rejection of the report's content does not alter the daily reality, let alone that of the families who suffer the anguish of not knowing the whereabouts of a loved one, each of the more than one hundred and thirty thousand disappeared, methodologically documented in one way or another, constitutes a family tragedy that cannot be ignored with a simple and cold statistical treatment. The environment for our country offers delicate moments, which have much to do with the external world and will be catalyzed by the complicated internal situation, subject to very, very close observation.
