Mexico - August 2026

The conditions facing those searching for Mexico’s disappeared have once against entered the foreground, as search collectives used the increased publicity afforded by the country’s co-hosting of the Fifa World Cup in June and July to draw attention to their cause. The efforts and resources devoted to the hosting of the World Cup have also led activists and searchers to criticise the government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum for prioritising the tournament over their plight. These tensions were exacerbated by the murder of missing persons activist Patricia Negrete Tafoya in Guanajuato state on 23 June, reflecting the dangers facing members of search collectives and drawing condemnation from rights groups.

On 25 June global human rights NGO Amnesty International (AI) condemned the killing of Negrete, who was searching for her sister who disappeared in 2021. AI highlighted the “threats, aggressions and risks” that searchers like Negrete face, while carrying out work that in reality “corresponds to the State”. Negrete was part of the search collective ‘Una Promesa Por Cumplir’ in Pénjamo municipality, Guanajuato state. Like many similar organisations that operate across Mexico, the collective was formed by the families of missing people to search for their loved ones. Responding to Negrete’s killing, AI demanded that the Guanajuato state attorney general’s office open an “immediate, exhaustive, independent, and impartial investigation”. It stressed that “the authorities must identify, prosecute, and punish all the people responsible for this crime”.

Situating the tragedy in the broader context of disappearances in Mexico, AI explained that “the killing of Patricia cannot be understood as an isolated case”, and called for “urgent, effective, and coordinated actions” from the State to protect search collectives and their female members in particular. Indeed, in a 2025 report, AI highlighted that nine out of 10 of those searching for the disappeared in Mexico are women, and that 97% of them suffer from violence and harassment, all while carrying out efforts that should be led by the State. In a March report, international human rights organisation Article 19 announced that it had recorded 35 killings and eight disappearances of those searching for the disappeared in Mexico since 2010, with women making up 25 of those affected. The NGO highlighted that 2025 was the most dangerous year for women searching for the disappeared so far.

According to the government’s official registry of disappeared and missing persons, there were 135,129 missing people in Mexico as of 16 July. As a result, there are now more than 90 family search collectives that make up the Movimiento Por Nuestros Desaparecidos en México (Movement for our disappeared in Mexico). The conditions that the collectives face, as well as the scale of the disappearance crisis, continue to be a significant point of contention, often leading to clashes between search collectives and the government, as well as drawing criticism from international organisations.

Such tensions were on show in June, as search collectives and families of the disappeared took to the streets to protest as Mexico was hosting the World Cup. Across Mexico City (CDMX), activists plastered posters of missing people over World Cup billboards, while marches were organised to coincide with World Cup matches to pay homage to the missing and draw attention to the cause at a time when Mexico was in the international spotlight.

On 8 June AI called for the protection and recognition of the female search collectives who had planned a peaceful protest to coincide with the inaugural match of the World Cup in CDMX on 11 June. Commenting on the matter, executive director of AI Mexico, Edith Olivares Ferreto, stated that “it is a crisis of enormous proportions: there are more people missing and whose whereabouts are unknown in Mexico than there are people who will attend the opening match”. As well as the 11 June demonstration, search collectives and relatives of disappeared persons also protested on 24 June to coincide with Mexico’s third match of the tournament. Protesters gathered on the Paseo de la Reforma, one of CDMX’s main avenues, where fans had also congregated to watch the match on big screens, and marched towards the Azteca stadium where the match was being played, shouting ‘México, campeón en desaparación’ (Mexico, champion of disappearances).

Search collectives also questioned the government’s priorities in light of the World Cup. Members of local search collectives in Jalisco state expressed frustration to British newspaper the Financial Times, noting the state government’s efforts to prepare state capital Guadalajara for the World Cup matches it was hosting, while failing to support relatives of the disappeared. President Sheinbaum also came under criticism for receiving the unofficial World Cup mascot, Merlín the duck, at the national palace on 22 June, with search collectives stating that she had declined to receive them.

This is not the first time that the government has come into criticism from search collectives this year. In March, the government presented the results of a review of the national registry of missing persons. It claimed that almost a third of entries, about 40,000 cases, showed some activity across other government records from after the date of their disappearance, suggesting they may be alive. A further 47,000 entries were said to lack basic information, such as names, dates, or places of disappearance, making searches impossible. Rights groups expressed dissatisfaction with the review, accusing the government of seeking to downplay the scale of disappearances in Mexico.

Then, in April, the United Nations (UN) committee on enforced disappearances (CED) released a report stating that disappearances in Mexico constituted crimes against humanity and recommending that the UN general assembly take measures to help the country combat the issue. The Mexican government rejected the committee’s report as “biased and dismissive of the observations, analysis, and updates submitted by the Mexican government”. However, a joint statement published by Article 19 from the families of missing people and search collectives welcomed the report and called for the government’s cooperation with the committee. This served as yet another sign of the conflicting narratives between the collectives, which are seeking to highlight the severity of the situation, and the government, which is trying to downplay the issue.

World Cup protests

Other groups to protest during the World Cup included teachers from the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE) union, who were demanding pay rises and the repeal of various education reforms. The national haulier union, Alianza Mexicana de Organización de Transportistas (Amotac), also planned to blockade highways during the World Cup, calling for greater security on federal highways and an end to excessive charges from public officials, although these were called off following dialogue with the government.

Ayotzinapa

The government continues to face pressure in relation to the country’s most infamous disappearance case, that of the 43 students from the rural Ayotzinapa teacher training college in Guerrero state who disappeared in 2014. Parents of the disappeared students sent a letter to the government calling for progress in the stalled investigation on 13 June. While President Sheinbaum announced progress was being made into the investigation in March, the students’ families remain disillusioned after years of false hope and disagreements with the authorities.

World Cup deaths

On 2 July authorities in Mexico City (CDMX) called on people in the capital “to celebrate the triumphs of the national team with responsibility and without excess”. This came as four people died on 1 July amid celebrations of Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador. CDMX public security minister, Nadine Gasman Zylbermann, said that three of the deaths were due to asphyxiation while a fourth man died after being admitted into hospital for an epileptic fit and digestive bleeding.

The government stated that 1.4m people celebrated in CDMX on 1 July with more than 35,000 public servants deployed to provide assistance and support. As well as the deaths, the authorities recorded over 700 instances requiring medical attention and 28 emergency hospital transfers during the celebrations.

This all raised concerns over crowd management protocols and the capacity of health services to attend to those watching and celebrating World Cup matches in CDMX. However, no deaths or serious medical incidents were reported during or after the match against England on 6 July, which Mexico lost 3-2, ending their World Cup hopes and the potential for any further celebrations.