August 30 marked the International Day of the Disappeared, a day held worldwide to bring the question of forced disappearances, secret imprisonment and abduction to the fore. In Mexico, various progressive organizations and families of victims of forced disappearances carried out activities in different parts of the country.
In Jalisco a mural was made, in Mexico City a number of rallies was held, the same as in Veracruz. In Oaxaca, the Coordination for the Freedom of Criminalized Defenders issued an important statement more than two years after the forced disappearance of professor and lawyer Ernesto Sernas García. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, an average of 13 forced disappearances of individuals are registered in the country each day.
As a result of a police raid thirteen youths died and six further were injured in Lima, Peru, on August 23. This week, new video footage was released showing how the death of the young people, all in their 20s, is directly on the hands of the police. Initially the police tried to shift the blame away from them, saying that it was a tragic situation but the victims themselves are to blame. On said day in August the police raided the discotheque Los Olivos, located in a working class neighborhood, using excessive force to create a panic, then locked the door so it could not be opened effectively anymore and used tear gas grenades on those sealed in the building. 13 died of asphyxiation or were trampled to death in the panic.
From the reoccupation of the area of Santa Elina, Brazil, led by the Poor Peasants League, a short video has been uploaded, depicting the combative detachment that took back the land. The action, shortly after the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Santa Elina, is a daring show of commitment to the cause of redistributing the land.
