50 days after Claudia Uruchurtu's track, the forced disappearance that outrages Nochixtlán

Claudia Uruchurtu's last trail leads to the City of Asunción Nochixtlán, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The activist she disappeared on March 26 after participating in a protest against the authorities. "She was last seen outside the municipal building and then she did not return home," says Sara Uruchurtu, her sister. A month and a half later, the investigations returned to the place where everything began and the mayor, Lizbeth Huerta has been arrested as the main suspect in the case. This week, a judge determined that there was sufficient evidence to initiate the trial against the municipal president, postulated by Morena, and two police officers. 50 days after the crime, however, the main question remains the same: where is Claudia Uruchurtu? "At this point, it would be expected that the mayor and the other detainees would cooperate and say where they have it, but they are criminals, at the end of the day," says the sister, "think and act as criminals."

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Claudia Uruchurtu, 48, wore with a dark blue denim jacket, a white shirt, jeans and a black cap, according to the search file.In the last protest, the inhabitants of Asunción Nochixtlán demonstrated because an entrepreneur who had gone to the City Council to collect an invoice owed to him The authorities ended up beaten and detained.The beating reached such an extent that man suffered a skull fracture and protesters demanded that he be released and transferred to a hospital to receive medical care, the family tells.

Uruchurtu had been denouncing embezzers for several years, the diversion of resources and the abuse of power in that community of the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, where six out of 10 inhabitants live in a situation of poverty or extreme poverty, according to official data."She said that it could not be possible for her to rob the poorest of the poor," says her sister.

50 días tras la pista de Claudia Uruchurtu, la desaparición forzada que indigna a Nochixtlán

"It became a very uncomfortable person for the municipal president," he adds.The activist accused the mayor of putting her family in the town hall, presuming jewelry, watches and luxury clothing, and buying cars last model while the population lacked the most basic services, such as drainage and paved streets.Already with the pandemic, Uruchurtu denounced that Mayor Huerta had used resources aimed at fighting COVID-19 to finance her re-election in the voting next June 6."Morena must apologize and not votes" was the claim of Uruchurtu's relatives after the arrest of politics on May 7."They are not obvious irregularities, but challenging," explains her sister, although she clarifies that "there are criminals in all political parties."

The family ensures that according to Uruchurtu documented the complaints, the attacks against them increased."The president has a group that controls and intimidates the population: they had it monitored, they knew where they lived and started a discredit campaign," says the victim's sister and ensures that intimidation had climbed to the point of suffering robberies and physical aggressionsagainst her and her son."She became increasingly personal," she laments.Huerta's family, on the other hand, argues that she is innocent and that it was an "arbitrary detention" and "abuse of power."

The search was late.Oaxaca still does not have a state search commission, although he had to go into functions since April 2018. The inquiries in the field began about 20 days after the forced disappearance, in mid -April.The case has had two clues: the judicial process against those responsible and the tracking of the victim.The president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said that justice would be done, regardless of whether Huerta belonged to his political party."We trust the authorities and in which justice will be done," says his relatives.

Uruchurtu has Mexican nationality and the United Kingdom.And the case has reached the doors of the British Parliament, where the representatives of the families have exhorted the Mexican government to clarify the facts.The United Nations Organization has also joined the claims for its appearance alive, together with several civil associations in Oaxaca.López Obrador announced last Tuesday that a witness protected in the investigation ensures that the activist was killed."The order had allegedly left the municipal president," said the president.The State Prosecutor, Arturo Peimbert, who has supported relatives in the search process, also told the press that it is most likely that she "will be lifeless", although no investigation line is still ruled out.

"The last thing we can do is lose hope," says Sara Uruchurtu and extends the call to anyone who has seen her any information about her whereabouts."In this country people are found by relatives and communities, so we need citizens to help us," asks her sister.The crisis of violence that has hit Mexico in recent decades is settled with more than 80,000 people disappeared and in a vast majority crimes are unpunished."This may be an exemplary case, that is a watershed in the crisis in the country," says Uruchurtu on the possibility of doing justice and finding her sister.The first part will be settled in four months, the date scheduled to start the trial, a process that Huerta and the two detainee policemen will face behind bars.The second is still an open wound: to locate Claudia Uruchurtu, the activist who did not silence corruption in Oaxaca.

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