Mexico and the United States are not only united by economic relations or migration: violence also mercilessly plagues both territories, which, in addition to a common history, share murders, shootings, kidnappings and forced disappearances.
That is why a delegation of activists and social organizations from both countries met on April 17 and 18 with congressmen and senators from the United States, as well as with the federal undersecretary of health, Rachel Levine.
At the meeting, María Herrera, a mother searching for children, and Marco Castillo, co-director of Global Exchange, discussed the problem of violence on both sides of the border and urged the need for the United States Congress to approve in the coming weeks the Weapons Law that would stop the legal export of weapons to police and military units that have proven links to corruption.
In turn, they presented to the U.S. representatives the 12 demands that bring together more than 300 organizations that met last February in Mexico City, on the occasion of the "Peace Summit," where activists and organizations of women, Afro-descendants, migrants, mothers and fathers of missing persons, human rights defenders and lawyers, discussed at length the problem of violence in the United States and Mexico.
Among the demands are the creation of a binational body to monitor and oversee compliance with Human Rights; stopping the legal and illegal flow of weapons from the United States; joint work between the United States and Mexico to guarantee a dignified quality of life where security, peace and justice prevail in their places of origin, transit and destination; as well as reducing the need for people to make the decision to migrate, among others.
"We can no longer remain silent, we can no longer tolerate so much violence on both sides and the idea is to promote this Peace Summit, to put it on the binational agenda and that is our fight," said José Ugalde, father of a man who disappeared in September 2015 and whose remains were found on the outskirts of the state of Querétaro, Mexico, in December of that year.
For his part, Marco Castillo reported during a press conference to announce the results of the meeting with the American legislators, that they showed great openness and recognized that violence derived from weapons is a serious problem that affects both countries.
«Eighty percent of weapons come from the United States and in that sense the United States government has a huge responsibility. In the coming weeks, the United States Congress will be discussing the Weapons Law; it is a law proposed by Congressman Joaquín Castro, which would have the mandate of stopping the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico, stopping the legal export of weapons to police and military units that could have links to corruption or organized crime,» said Castillo.
The organizations and activists who met at the “Peace Summit” will continue to discuss in the coming weeks how to make the demands that unite them widely known; in addition, they will seek to meet with the presidential candidates from Mexico and the United States who will challenge each other at the polls in 2024.
"We are certain that 2024 must be our year, the year in which all these just and historic demands of civil society are at the forefront of the minds of those who aspire to govern us in each country," concluded José Ugalde.
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