Mexico and the United States are not only united by economic relations or migration: violence mercilessly lashes 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 United States congressmen and senators, as well as a meeting with the federal undersecretary of health, Rachel Levine.
At the meeting, María Herrera, a mother seeker, and Marco Castillo, co-director of Global Exchange, exposed the problem of violence on both sides of the border and promoted the need for the United States Congress to approve in the coming weeks the Arms Law that stops the legal export of arms to police and military units that have proven links to corruption.
In turn, they presented to the US representatives the 12 demands that bring together more than 300 organizations that met last February in Mexico City, on the occasion of the "Summit for Peace", where activists and women's organizations , Afro-descendants, migrants, mothers and fathers of disappeared persons, defenders of Human Rights and lawyers, extensively discussed the problem of violence in the United States and Mexico.
Among the demands, there is the creation of a binational body for the monitoring and surveillance of compliance with Human Rights; stop 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 reduce the need for people to make the decision to migrate, among others.
"We can no longer remain silent, we can no longer put up with so much violence on both sides and the idea is to promote this Peace Summit, 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 US legislators, that they showed great openness and recognized that violence derived from weapons is a serious problem that afflicts both countries.
“80 percent of weapons come from the United States and in this 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 to stop the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico, stop the legal export of weapons to police and military units that could have links to corruption or organized crime. Castillo said.
The organizations and activists who gathered at the "Summit for Peace" will continue discussing in the coming weeks how to widely publicize the demands that unite them; In addition, they will seek to meet with the presidential candidates of Mexico and the United States who will challenge each other at the polls in 2024.
"We are sure that 2024 has to be our year, the year in which all these just, historical demands of civil society are in the foreground of these aspirants to govern us in each country," concluded José Ugalde.
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