Mexico collective protests for missing persons amid World Cup fervor

In Ciudad Juárez, members of the Red Mesa de Mujeres collective have joined a national protest, "The ball is back on the court, when are our disappeared coming back?" The action coincides with the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup, drawing a stark contrast between widespread celebration and the ongoing anguish of families searching for missing relatives.

Yadira Cortés, a member of the collective, explained that the protest uses World Cup imagery to highlight the disparity. "While many people are celebrating goals, families are experiencing the pain and sorrow of absence due to a missing family member," she stated. The group aims to make these flyers, featuring the faces of missing individuals, go viral to garner broader public support and demand action.

“

This action is in the context of the World Cup, that's why the Players were placed with this theme, and with the phrase, which we even join these national collective search actions that say ‘The ball is back on the court, when are our disappeared coming back?. And let them know that while many people are celebrating goals, families are with the feeling and the pain of the absence of a missing family member.

One particularly poignant case highlighted is that of Edgar Ruiz Hernández, whose two-year disappearance anniversary was recently marked. His grandmother, Norma Laguna, spent years searching for her own daughter, Idaly Jauche Laguna, who was later found deceased in Ciudad Juárez. Now, she faces the same pain with her grandson's disappearance from a sports field.

“

Unfortunately, today she also has this situation, with her grandson who disappeared on the fields of 16 de Septiembre and it's been two years since his disappearance, and well, she asked for the space to be able to commemorate this demand for actions to search for her grandson alive, and for the case file to be activated.