Translated by Noah Burton
Activist and poet Javier Sicilia criticized the lack of monetary and technical resources being put toward solving tens of thousands of cases of disappearances in Mexico. Although the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has changed the public discourse to focus more attention on the victims, he said, they are not really taking on the problem.
The list was compiled during the term of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) by the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) using information provided by state attorneys general, said the Undersecretary of Legal Affairs and Human Rights from the Secretariat of Government Relations.
Following his son’s murder, the poet started the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity.
In 2011, Javier Sicilia was named one of Time magazine’s people of the year. Spanish Original
Activist and poet Javier Sicilia criticized the lack of monetary and technical resources being put toward solving tens of thousands of cases of disappearances in Mexico. Although the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has changed the public discourse to focus more attention on the victims, he said, they are not really taking on the problem.
“We need 500 forensic anthropologists, we have 24; we need contributions from DNA labs, we need a lot of money,” said the poet in an interview with Carmen Aristegui on CNN en Español.Sicilia said that the General Law of Victims was a step forward but that it is unfortunate that the federal government put aside a mere .014% of the budget to deal with what he called a “humanitarian tragedy.”
“That is the problem; the discourse changed, but (authorities) are not taking responsibility for the reality of the problem,” said Sicilia about the lack of real attention being paid by authorities.In February the federal government published a list of persons who had disappeared during the term of Felipe Calderón, a list that contained 26,121 names.
The list was compiled during the term of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012) by the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) using information provided by state attorneys general, said the Undersecretary of Legal Affairs and Human Rights from the Secretariat of Government Relations.
“No state or democracy that has any respect for itself can say that they have no idea where more than 30,000 disappeared people are,” said the poet.Sicilia also spoke about his book of poetry, Vestigios, his last publication, which he said was completed before he went to the Philippines, where he was when he received the news of the murder of his son Juan Francisco in March of 2011.
Following his son’s murder, the poet started the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity.
In 2011, Javier Sicilia was named one of Time magazine’s people of the year. Spanish Original