Written By: Isabelle Shaw
The Madres Buscadoras [Searching Mothers] highlight the damaging effects of the cartel system and the consequences of narcotráfico [drug trafficking] in Mexico. This system was established in 1964 and still exists in the current day. As a consequence of the government’s incapacity, these organisations are assuming authority over the country that allows these ‘disappearances’ of Mexicans to continue without punishment.
These ‘desaparecidos’ [missing ones] are mostly young people who have joined cartels either from force or due to a lack of work opportunities resulting from the worsening economic situation in Mexico. 116,000 men and women have ‘disappeared’ according to the Registro Nacional de Personas Desparecidas y No Localizadas [National Registry of ‘Disappeared’ and Unlocated People], which belongs to the organisation the Comisión Nacional de Búsqueda de Personas [National Commission of the Search for People].
The Madres Buscadoras are inspirational women, having overcome a lack of support from the government in the search for their missing relatives. They have joined together in groups and organisations to help one another to find their family members. For example, they have a national march on 10 May every year, el día de la Madre [Mother’s Day], where they hang photos and the names of their missing loved ones around their necks. They also hold white handkerchiefs, similarly to Las Madres de Plaza Mayor [Mothers of the Main Square] in Argentina. To raise awareness of their cause, they chant in the state of Guerrero, “vivos se los llevaron, vivos los queremos [alive they took them, alive we want them]”, demonstrating the group’s fight against the violence created by narcotráfico.
These women search in barren fields, unmarked graves, woodlands, deserts, and rivers for their family members. In fact, in November 2021, they discovered an unmarked cemetery with more than fourteen graves that were confirmed to have twenty-five victims. They have also successfully pressured the government into passing the Ley General en Materia de Desaparición Forzada de Personas [The General Law on the Forced Disappearances of People] to legitimise their mission and protect the Madres from narcotraffickers’ threats. Their actions have certainly succeeded in advancing the search for the desaparecidos [the disappeared] and raising awareness nationally and internationally to end these ‘disappearances’ at the hands of narcotraffickers.
Another action of the Madres is that they ask for the help of narcotraffickers to find their ‘desaparecidos’. For example, take Delia Icela Quiora Flores Valdez, the spokesperson for Colectivo Nacional de Víctimas de Diez de Marzo [National Collective for Victims of 10 May] and the Unión de Colectivas de Madres Buscadoras [The Collective Union of Searching Mothers] in Tamaulipas. She approached cartels, like those in Salazar and the Tijuana cartel, to make a Pacto Social [Social Pact] to prevent and eradicate the disappearance of Mexican people and to encourage peace. Additionally, Cecilia Flores Armenta asked narcotraffickers in Sonora to allow them to continue the search for their children. This demonstrates that the Madres are achieving to end these narcotraffickers’ crimes, and they believe that their actions have the potential to end these ‘disappearances’ completely.
However, their fight is not without risk: many women are murdered by narcotraffickers. For example, María del Carmen Morales, who was a mother from Guerreros Buscadores [Searching Fighters].
Overall, it is clear that the Madres Buscadoras are an example of the social effort to overcome violence and crime in Mexico.
Bibliography
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Agencia Presentes. “¿Quiénes Son Las Madres Buscadoras de México? – Agencia Presentes,” March 17, 2025. https://agenciapresentes.org/2025/03/17/quienes-son-las-madres-buscadoras-de-mexico/.
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Ferri, Pablo. “Asesinada Una Madre Buscadora Del Colectivo Del Rancho de Teuchitlán: ‘Sí, Tenía Amenazas, No Querían Que Encontrara a Su Hijo.’” El País México, April 24, 2025. https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-04-24/asesinada-una-madre-buscadora-del-colectivo-del-rancho-de-teuchitlan-si-tenia-amenazas-no-querian-que-encontrara-a-su-hijo.html.
news.un.org. “Las Madres Buscadoras En México No Están Solas, Cuentan Con Varios Aliados | Noticias ONU,” July 31, 2023. https://news.un.org/es/story/2023/07/1523057.
ONU Mujeres – México. “Hasta Encontrarles: La Lucha Incansable de Las Madres Buscadoras,” July 21, 2022. https://mexico.unwomen.org/es/stories/noticia/2022/07/centro-de-estudios-ecumenicos.
Redacción Infobae México. “‘He Decidido Hablarles Directamente’: Madre Buscadora Propuso Pacto a Los Cárteles Del Narco.” infobae, May 29, 2023. https://www.infobae.com/mexico/2023/05/29/he-decidido-hablarles-directamente-madre-buscadora-propuso-pacto-a-los-carteles-del-narco/.
Featured Image Credit: “Marcha 10 de mayo, Madres Buscadoras 2023.” Photo by Geo González. Agencia Presentes, 17 March 2025.
https://agenciapresentes.org/en/2025/03/17/quienes-son-las-madres-buscadoras-de-mexico/
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