Samuel Messidor
Photo: Sol Rojo, Day of the Disappeared march in Mexico, flag bearing the likeness of Dr. Sernas
On August 30, organizations of the people’s democratic struggles in Mexico commemorated the International Day of the Disappeared with marches in Oaxaca, Mexico City, and Guerrero. The organizations follow the agreements of the National Popular Assembly (ANP), including the revolutionary democratic organizations Corriente del Pueblo – Sol Rojo (Current of the People – Red Sun [CP-Sol Rojo]), Familias Unidas de Desaparecidos de Oaxaca (United Families of the Disappeared of Oaxaca)and the teacher’s union SNTE-CNTE.
The ANP was formed in the struggle demanding the return alive of 43 teacher’s school students disappeared in 2014 in Guerrero on their way to a protest against the government’s attacks on public education. The recent commemorations reiterated this demandas well as the release alive of the disappeared Dr. Ernesto Sernas Garcia, professor of law. In Mexico City, marchers spray painted slogans on the walls of banks and companies representing imperialist interests in Mexico.
Dr. Sernas was disappeared in 2018 in Oaxaca after he successfully defended a group of activists accused of belonging toCP-Sol Rojo and engaging in terrorist activity. CP-Sol Rojo has led an international campaign since then with the slogan “Dr. Sernas – Presentación con vida”(Present Dr. Sernas alive).
Forced disappearance is one of the tactics used by the state to repress people’s struggles and revolutionary struggles, in particular in the third world where popular indignation against imperialist super-exploitation and oppression leads to mass uprisings that shake the foundations ofimperialist interests.
The recent marches accused the Mexican governmentof the criminal disappearances of the students and Dr. Sernas, as well as the estimated 11,000 disappeared people in Mexico today. This is corroborated by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances in the cases of the students and Dr. Sernas in particular.
The handbill by CP-Sol Rojo connects the struggle in Mexico against forced disappearance with those across the world, for instance in Argentina and Turkey, stating:
“It [forced disappearance] is not about ‘isolated’ or simply ‘criminal’ violence; it is a systematic violence, of a reactionary nature, that targets the people and their desire for freedom, and has clear political manifestations such as the balkanization of the national territory, the rupture of the community organization and State terrorism.”
This is of particular importance to the US working class because, as the Mexican revolutionaries put it: “It is important to remember that the economic, political and military intervention of gringo [US] imperialism has encouraged the formation of paramilitary groups, strengthening the warlords who work for the balkanization of the country.”
In the US, a group of activists in Austin, TX responded to the call for international solidarity with the campaign to present Dr. Sernas alive. They handed out informational pamphlets educating people on Dr. Sernas’s disappearance and raised awareness of the many others who have been unjustly detained or targeted. Many of those who spoke with the activists were from Latin America and expressed support for the work and the campaign for Dr. Sernas.
