In recent news regarding the issue
of Mexico and its ongoing war on drugs and drug cartels, there seems to be much
confusion over some of the missing peoples statistics. According to a recent
ABC News article, an official count of missing people in Mexico due to the
current drug war, 26,121 people are reportedly missing. Although the numbers
are staggering and unfortunately high, several people and organizations are
skeptical about how accurate the count truly was. For example, Lia Limon, the
Interior Department’s sub-security for human rights in Mexico, states, “We have
to be clear that this database doesn’t prejudge the reasons that people can’t
be found, because many of the people on it could be missing for a variety of
reasons that don’t have to do with criminal acts.”
The
Mexican government is working to clarify just how many of these missing people
are actually missing because of involvement, voluntary and involuntary, in the
current Mexican war on drugs and drug cartels. Some suggest that many of the
missing people are in fact missing for much more common reasons. For example,
some may be missing due to migration to the United States, family disputes, and
natural disasters. The Mexican government is skeptical about the statistics of
missing people and is not so quick to place all blame in the current warlike
situation sweeping the country. As we all know, migration of Mexican citizens
to the U.S. is and has been a historical phenomenon. It could be safe to say
that a great majority of those missing people could have in fact up and left.
Besides, you wouldn’t necessarily tell the government that you are planning on
leaving the country anyhow.
Nathaniel Funkhouser
03/01/2013
3:25pm
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