Strong international support will be needed to help find the bodies of the disappeared and transform the state police and legislature.
At least 2, people are believed to have disappeared in a state whose former governor is wanted for embezzlement on numerous counts. The murders of seventeen journalists from onwards are the most notorious examples of a whirlwind of killings that targeted, among others, legal professionals, police officers, potential witnesses to crimes and any civilians who dared check the ambitions of a multitude of criminal organisations and their political accomplices. A new governor from the opposition National Action Party PAN has promised to clean out the state and prosecute wrongdoers, fostering hopes that peace can be restored.
Veracruz is emblematic of the challenges facing the country as a whole. Threats by the new U. But Mexican voices demanding a stronger national response are hamstrung by the extreme unpopularity of political leaders and public estrangement from government.
Since , eleven state governors have come under investigation for corruption. In Veracruz, an alliance between criminal groups and the highest levels of local political power paved the way to an unbridled campaign of violence through the capture of local judicial and security institutions, guaranteeing impunity for both sides. Strengthening institutional probity and capacity in Veracruz, as in the rest of Mexico, will require federal and state levels to deliver on vows to work in partnership to staunch corruption, and on their willingness to abjure short-term political and electoral advantage.
A flagship initiative that deserves emphatic support is the Veracruz Truth Commission. To do so, it should be granted additional powers to initiate criminal investigations and searches for victims of disappearances. Simultaneously, donors should be encouraged to support local civil society actors participating in efforts toward transparency, truth and prosecution. By admitting that Veracruz has become the site of crimes against humanity, the new state government forced a radical break with the recent past.
