MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� If there is a still open wound in Latin America, it is that of the and decadeslong pain that has accumulated in parts of the region such as Mexico and .
Two visions of the trauma had a central role at the 97th : the Brazilian film 鈥淎inda Estou Aqui鈥� which tells the drama of the family of a leftist former congressman who disappeared in 1971 at the height of the military dictatorship; and the musical about a fictional Mexican drug lord who leaves a life of crime to become a transgender woman and searcher for the disappeared in Mexico.
鈥淲e hope that in this way the society will be sensitized,鈥� said activist Indira Navarro, who directs the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective in Mexico and has been searching for her brother, who disappeared in the northern state of Sonora nine years ago.
The Academy Awards鈥� recognition of the films, both of which were nominated in multiple categories, was an unparalleled opportunity to make the problem visible, Navarro said.
鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here,鈥� by Brazilian Walter Salles, won the Oscar in the category of best international film. 鈥淓milia P茅rez,鈥� by renowned French director Jacques Audiard, was this year鈥檚 most-nominated film and won in the categories of best original song and .
Salles and Audiard鈥檚 films also had a common denominator of disappearances in Latin America: impunity.
The story behind 鈥業鈥檓 Still Here鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here鈥� was inspired by the book 鈥淎inda Estou Aqui鈥� by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, son of the disappeared former congressman Rubens Paiva. More than five decades after he was taken from his Rio de Janeiro home and disappeared, none of those responsible for Paiva鈥檚 case have been held accountable.
His widow, Eunice, and their five children have sought justice for years. His family had to wait 40 years to receive his death certificate and even longer for the authorities to recognize that he, like others, died in the context of the violence of the military dictatorship.
Salles, accepting the award, said from the Oscars stage: 鈥淭his goes to a woman who, after a loss suffered during an authoritarian regime, decided not to bend and to resist鈥er name is Eunice Paiva.鈥�
told The Associated Press of the impact of the Oscars recognition: 鈥淧eople everywhere are afraid of watching their democracies become dictatorships鈥� This movie glorifies democracy and the understanding that human rights, empathy are in short supply.鈥�
The disappeared in Mexico
In the case of 鈥淓milia P茅rez鈥� the central character, a drug trafficker nicknamed Manitas del Monte ( ), tries to vindicate his years as a criminal looking for disappeared people along with lawyer Rita Castro (Salda帽a). He never pays for his crimes nor are those responsible for disappearances held accountable before the Mexican justice system.
That is very similar to the reality in Mexico, where according to official figures there are currently 123,147 disappeared.
The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances acknowledged in a report it presented in April 2022, after a visit to Mexico, that only between 2% and 6% of cases of disappearances were prosecuted.
鈥淥rganized crime has become a central perpetrator of disappearances in Mexico, with varying degrees of participation, acquiescence or omission of public servants,鈥� the committee said.
The phenomenon of disappearances in Mexico began in the 1960s, but the numbers skyrocketed from the 2000s with the increase in drug trafficking activities and the war against cartels undertaken by the government of then-President Felipe Calder贸n (2006-2012).
In Mexico the search for many disappeared who, with scarce resources and without protection from the authorities, enter regions controlled by criminals to search for their loved ones.
That鈥檚 true for Navarro, who spoke Monday while searching a grave in western state of Jalisco that she and other activists located. She said she hopes the Oscars will serve as 鈥渁 wake-up call for the whole world and to know what we are really experiencing here in Mexico.鈥�
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Fabiola Sanchez, The Associated Press
