Members of the collective Verdad, Memoria y Justicia from Quintana Roo concluded a five-day [1] civil journey through the state of Veracruz.
The mission highlights the ongoing struggle of families in Mexico to locate disappeared loved ones across state lines, often bypassing official channels to conduct their own searches.
Led by founder and president RomRomana Rivera Ramírez, the group traveled through three [2] key municipalities in Veracruz. During the tour, the families visited hospitals and SEMEFOS — the forensic medical services offices — to check for any records of their missing relatives [1].
As part of their efforts to raise awareness and gather information, the group posted missing-person "fichas," or notices, throughout the visited areas [1]. The collective said it sought to demand truth, memory, and justice for the disappeared [2].
Participants said they felt exhausted following the conclusion of the journey [1]. The search efforts were focused on identifying potential locations where their family members might have been taken or held.
Verdad, Memoria y Justicia continues to operate as a support network for mothers and relatives of the disappeared, coordinating these types of regional tours to pressure authorities and maintain public visibility for their missing kin [2].
“The group traveled through three key municipalities in Veracruz.”
The reliance on civil collectives like Verdad, Memoria y Justicia to conduct searches in forensic offices and hospitals indicates a significant gap in state-led disappearance investigations. By crossing state lines from Quintana Roo to Veracruz, these families are attempting to map the movement of missing persons, suggesting that disappearances in Mexico are often transnational or inter-state in nature.
