MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico’s top prosecutor said yesterday there had been flaws in the investigation of a ranch in the western state of Jalisco, which activists have called a cartel-run “extermination camp,” and vowed to uncover the truth of what happened there.
Earlier this month, a group of activists searching for missing loved ones found ashes, thousands of bone fragments, items of clothing, and alleged underground ovens possibly used to cremate bodies at the ranch in Teuchitlan, about 40 miles (64 km) outside Guadalajara, the Jalisco state capital.
The discovery of the “ranch of horror,” as some local media have dubbed it, has shocked the nation which has for years struggled with disappearances of people. More than 124,000 people are missing in Mexico, according to government data, largely as a result of drug cartel violence. Most cases are never solved, breeding a deep mistrust of authorities among those searching for the missing.
Mexico’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, said at a press conference that Jalisco state authorities were aware of the ranch as early as September, but had not tested human remains at the site or properly identified the clothing and shoes found there. The state authorities also had not alerted federal officials, he said.
The discovery of mass graves is not uncommon in Mexico, but the possibility that the ranch was a systematic extermination camp has caused a deep sense of horror.
The scandal has cast a shadow over President Claudia Sheinbaum’s pledge to crack down on violence and reduce homicides. The attention around Teuchitlan puts pressure on Sheinbaum, who took office last October, to set herself apart from her mentor, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who critics say did not do enough to address disappearances and a worsening security crisis.
The attorney general’s office will be involved in investigating the origin of the human remains found at the site and determining causes of death, Gertz said. Possible links between the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office and organized crime would also be investigated, he said.
“If the (state) prosecutors… committed some type of irregularity, of course we will go and do everything necessary to establish that responsibility of … the entire chain of command,” Gertz said.
There is not yet enough evidence to determine if the site was used as an “extermination center,” he added.
Amid the scandal, Sheinbaum announced a series of measures to strengthen laws around missing persons and increase resources dedicated to searches.
She also accused an opposition movement of exploiting the discovery as “scavengers” through a targeted social media campaign in comments reminiscent of Lopez Obrador’s attacks against his critics.
Search groups and rights experts have said Sheinbaum’s measures were largely already reflected in current or past laws with few new concepts to push the needle forward.
“I think the discovery made in Jalisco exposes a reality that the current government, and also Lopez Obrador’s government, wanted to continue not only hiding, but also manipulating and distorting,” said Chantal Flores, who authored a book on disappearances in Mexico and other countries.
“Reducing violence and homicides is not happening, nor will it happen as long as the practice of disappearing people persists in the country,” Flores added.
At the Teuchitlan site, local authorities released photos of rows of pairs of shoes, an eerie image that stirs both despair and hope for the families of the disappeared.
Activists, many who are hoping to find some clue of what happened to their missing sons and daughters, have said authorities will not give them access to the Teuchitlan site, provoking allegations the investigation is being mishandled.
“We don’t agree because we don’t trust the authorities to do things right,” said Raul Servin, a member of a Jalisco-based non-government search group.
Gertz said his office was planning to grant access to the site to members of the public and journalists.
The discovery of the ranch has prompted a fresh wave of public backlash against cartels which have for years kept Mexico gripped by fear amid relentless violence and bloody turf wars.
In a video circulated on social media this week, the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel that is widely thought to have operated the ranch, tried to distance itself from the ranch and took aim at the search groups, claiming they distorted the facts to create a “horror movie” with the aim of damaging the cartel’s image.
