Mothers of Missing Children Ask Quintana Roo to Display Their Faces on Public Transport

Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo — Mothers searching for their missing relatives in this municipality have asked public transport unions and state security officials to display the faces of the disappeared on buses and other vehicles, as Quintana Roo moves toward the start of a new electoral cycle.

Silvia del Rocío Cituk Ucán, whose son Jesús Alberto Basulto Cituk disappeared on April 11, 2024, said the request was submitted through the Colectivo Verdad, Memoria y Justicia (Truth, Memory and Justice Collective), both to transport organizations and at the security roundtables where the group has taken part.

“We have seen that during campaign season that is how you put a face in the public eye, and we want them to put our children’s faces there,” she said. “It should be a coordinated effort with the state government and the transport unions, so that it is not just a campaign during August,” the month commemorated for forced disappearances.

She said the displays cannot be permanent, but could be rotated: “Perhaps it could be up for one month, and then three months later put the faces up again so that citizens can provide some kind of information.”

Cituk Ucán said the group has been met with delays. “But there is a lot of bureaucracy and they have only sent us in circles. We went to the Mobility Institute for an answer, but so far nothing, which is why we are calling on Governor Mara Lezama to listen to us.”

At Least 125 Open Cases

Cituk Ucán said the situation in Felipe Carrillo Puerto is worrying. While she could not give an exact figure, she said there are at least 125 open case files for people who have not been located and for whom search notices have been issued.

“Unfortunately, the disappearance of people has become normalized and that cannot be,” she said. “We have to confront the situation, because when we go out people tell us ‘they took him.'”