Mexican government officials say over 60,000 citizens have disappeared
According to Mexican government officials, approximately 61,637 people have been reported as disappeared and have not been found in Mexico since the 1960s. Although the cases involving disappeared individuals go back for decades, government records indicate that over 97% of the people were reported as missing since 2006. In that year, Mexico’s government initiated a strategy to reduce drug trafficking and criminal enterprises. The current situation in Mexico is one the worst crises of “the disappeared” in Latin American history. Approximately 40,000 people went missing during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war. An estimated 30,000 people disappeared from 1976 to 1983 during Argentina’s “dirty war.” In 2017, Mexican officials recorded the more than 7,000 cases. In 2019, between 5,000 to 9,000 people disappeared and were not found, according to Mexico’s National Search Commission. According to officials, there are various reasons for the forced disappearances. In certain cases, nar