Mexico City government personnel removed missing persons posters that had been posted at the Light Rail station near Mexico City Stadium, on a day marked by numerous social protests throughout the capital.
This occurred just as thousands of fans were gathering to watch the friendly match between the Mexican and Portuguese national teams, an event celebrating the reopening of the iconic sports venue.
Mexico City government workers remove missing persons posters posted at the Light Rail station near Banorte Stadium amidst a day of demonstrations.
The day was fraught with social tension. Hours before the friendly match between Mexico and Portugal, which served as the inaugural event for the renovated World Cup venue, groups of relatives of missing persons protested in the vicinity of the stadium.
Among them was Brenda María Valenzuela, mother of Carlos Emilio Galván Valenzuela, a young man who disappeared on March 25, 2025, in Mazatlán’s Golden Zone. She led a demonstration in front of Alexander Calder’s “Red Sun” sculpture, demanding justice and visibility for the thousands of unsolved cases in the country.
The organization Mexicans Crying for Peace hung banners on main avenues with powerful messages such as: “We need two Azteca Stadiums to hold all the disappeared,” while other banners demanded: “Bring back Carlos Emilio” and “Wake up, Mazatlán, your people are disappearing too.”
Meanwhile, and despite the traffic congestion caused by the sporting event, dozens of groups marched from the Angel of Independence to the Palace of Fine Arts to join the third day of the “No Kings” movement, which is taking place in more than 3,300 locations across the United States to protest immigration policies.
Mexican and American protesters denounced ICE operations, which have resulted in the detention of more than 177,000 Mexicans and the deaths of at least 14 of them in custody.
In this context of citizen mobilization, the decision to remove the missing persons posters displayed on the Light Rail sparked outrage. For the groups present, the act symbolizes exactly what they are denouncing: that the authorities prioritize the image of the big event over the demands of thousands of families who have spent months, or years, searching for their loved ones.
The day left a clear image: while the city celebrated the return of soccer to its most iconic stadium, another part of it took to the streets to remind everyone that there is a crisis of disappearances that cannot be erased from the walls or ignored with a soccer match.
Source; infobae
