Programs

Mexico: Neither dead nor alive

Since 2006 when Mexico’s president Felipe Calderón declared war on drug trafficking, over 23,000 people have disappeared. The shocking events of September 2014, when 43 students went missing stunned the world. Unfortunately the scenario has become a common one in recent years.

This film investigates several of these stories including one of the most serious cases of mass disappearance. Four years ago in Allende villagenmore than 200 armed members of the Zetas cartel came to take their revenge on two members of the village. They kidnapped an estimated 300 family members, acquaintances and co-workers of the men and destroyed 50 homes in the village.

The victims families are fear of reprisals and the local authorities collusion with the drug traffickers has led to a blanket of silence. Investigations only begun three years after the crime. Family members, speaking out publicly for the first time, are interviewed in the report, revealing a hellish series of events including the burning of some human bodies.

The report also meets Letty Hidalgo and follows her battle to find her son Roy, a university student who disappeared four years ago when armed men, dressed as policemen, entered his home and took him away.

Another group badly affected are Central American migrants who sneak into the country in the hope of reaching the USA. Along their way they become victims to both organized crime groups and the police. Precisely because they are attempting to stay under the radar, there are no official statistics reflecting the thousands of murdered and missing. The “30 Minuts” team also spoke with some of those migrants who describe the challenges of their daily existence and ever-present fears of falling into the hands of organized crime.

PRODUCTION INFO

  • Year: 2015
  • Duration: 30 mins
  • Production:
  • Director: Roser Oliver and Lluís Armengol
  • Available Versions: ENG, CAT
  • Country of production: Spain

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