Mexico has come out to show its support for its compatriots aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea before being detained Wednesday by Israeli Armed Forces ships in international waters. Protests in the country’s main cities closed streets in the late afternoon to demand the release of Sol González, Arlín Medrano, and Ernesto Ledesma, the Mexicans confirmed to have been detained by Israeli authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a statement that it has requested consular access from Israeli authorities and asked them to “guarantee that their rights and integrity are respected at all times.”
Palestinian flags have flown on main thoroughfares in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Oaxaca, and other parts of the country. “Netanyahu murders, and Trump sponsors,” protesters chanted outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital. The calls to stop the genocide in Mexico join the echoes of protests in several cities around the world, which have taken to the streets to denounce Israel’s halting of the mission seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, 70 nautical miles from its destination. Mexican civil society organizations and journalists have issued statements demanding the release of the detainees and respect for international law. They have also called on the government of Claudia Sheinbaum to sever relations with the State of Israel.
The other citizens traveling on the boats, whose interceptions are still unknown, are Carlos Pérez Osorio, Laura Alejandra Vélez Ruiz Gaitán, Miriam Moreno Sánchez, and Diego Vázquez Galindo. David Peña, who is legally accompanying the families of the Mexican delegation to Gaza, has reported since the protests that the detainees will be held incommunicado for 12 hours. “There is no information about the places where they were transferred, their physical condition, or the conditions of their detention,” he stated outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.
“The Israeli government has adopted the immediate deportation protocol,” Peña said, adding that there is a working group with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relatives of the Mexicans aboard the flotilla, as well as communication with the Mexican embassy in Israel. “According to the information we have received, there is no intention to file a criminal charge. The charge would be illegal entry, in quotation marks, into Israeli territory because the boats were clearly not in Israeli territory. They were in international waters, and in any case, that strip of sea belongs to Gaza,” he stated.
Regarding the statement from the Foreign Ministry, which has been in contact with embassies in the region since the Mexican group set sail from Barcelona on September 2, the families expressed disappointment. Peña described the message as “quite simple” and emphasized that their families wanted a political statement “on the scope and extent of the detention and the legal implications” that Mexico will take in response to “the aggression, arbitrary transfer, and illegal detention” of the Mexican citizens.
A day earlier, as the boats approached the Strip and tensions grew over a possible Israeli attack, the Foreign Ministry had again called in a statement for the safety of its compatriots to be guaranteed. “Their purpose is none other than to offer humanitarian aid. They are caring, peaceful, and committed to peace, with no ties to violent groups,” they emphasized. Last week, Sheinbaum spoke out openly about the situation in Gaza, calling it a “genocide,” but avoided condemning Netanyahu’s offensive against Palestine. In the letter sent by the Mexican organization Palestina MX to Laura Itzel Castillo Juárez, president of the Senate, she also called for sanctions against Israel, an arms embargo, and the cancellation of military agreements.
Source: elpais
