Indigenous Latest to Suffer Plague of Disappearances in Sonora, Mexico
KIDNAPPING
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26 AUG 2021 BY CHRIS DALBY
EN
The ongoing search for members of Mexico’s Yaqui Indigenous community, missing for well over a month, has become a rallying cry for activists pointing to the shocking number of disappearances in northern Sonora state.
On July 14, 10 people left the Yaqui community of Loma de Bácum in southern Sonora to drive a herd of cattle to a festival being held at the Agua Caliente Ranch, some 85 kilometers to the north.
They never made it. Nothing has been heard from them since.
. . .
But for the Yaqui community, the answer went beyond drug trafficking interests. They claim this was the latest act in a systematic campaign to dislodge them from their lands or quell protests against a gas pipeline and mining concessions. Two well-known Yaqui leaders were killed in Sonora in May and June.
. . .
On August 24, the same day López Obrador visited Sonora, dozens of activists gathered in Mexico City for a protest and issued a statement calling for greater protection from the state. One of those being commemorated was Aranza Ramos, a 28-year-old woman from Sonora who had joined search parties organized by Madres Buscadoras (Searching Mothers) to find her husband, missing since December 2020. She participated in uncovering mass graves and reportedly received several threats before being gunned down in July at her home in Guaymas, Sonora.
More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/indigenous-latest-suffer-plague-disappearances-sonora-mexico/