Post date: May 10, 2013 8:10:59 PM
Hundreds of women whose children have gone missing across Mexico march on Mothers Day to demand authorities step up the search for their loved ones.
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MAY 10, 2013) (REUTERS) - Hundreds of Mexican women looking for their missing children arrived inMexico City on Friday (May 10) for a Mothers Day protest to pressure authorities to do more to find their loved ones.
Carrying banners and placards of their missing children, the women marched on the capital from different parts of Mexico, including the country's violent cartel hotspots along its northern border.
Conceding she may not see her son again, Maria Guadalupe Aguilar said she hoped the march would prevent other mothers suffering the anguish of losing their child.
"I'm here with these women, these women, these sisters of pain, because we need to unite. There are many missing and this cannot continue. We've done what we can and if we can't find our children, hopefully more mothers won't suffer what we have suffered," she said.
Earlier this year, the Mexican government said over 26,000 people were reported missing during the six year presidency of former leader Felipe Calderon.
Setting up camp outside Mexico's Attorney General headquarters in the capital, the woman have declared a hunger strike to demand swift action from authorities.
"The government (needs to) get to work. They're seeing the magnitude of the problem and they're not doing anything. How much higher does it need go, there already a lot of people in this situation. And they (government) are bothered by us doing this? We are starting this, mothers not eating or anything, for our children. They (government) are comfortable in their homes. I'm not asking for sympathy, I haven't come to cause problems. I just want them to realise that they could be in our place. We're doing this so that this does not affect more people," said mother,Nancy Rosete Nunez.
Mexico is currently in the throes of a a military-led offensive against drug gangs that has killed about 70,000 people since late 2006.
The Mexican government introduced a law in January to trace victims of the drug war and compensate families of victims deemed to have no ties to drug trafficking or criminal activities.
The law, however, does not include provisions for those who have not been found.