Just over a month ago, Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, was rocked by a wave of violence triggered by the capture and death of cartel boss Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera. The streets were full of burned-out cars, closed businesses and shell casings scattered across the ground.
On Thursday night (26), the city showed a very different face. Guadalajara hosted its first international soccer match since that military operation, as it struggles to ease security concerns ahead of the World Cup, which Mexico will host along with the United States and Canada.
In an intense match with few scoring opportunities in the intercontinental playoff, Jamaica defeated New Caledonia 1-0 at the Akron Stadium, with a capacity for 50,000 people and almost full, taking another step towards the dream of returning to a World Cup after 28 years.
“It was something that happened in just one day. The next day, everything was under control, so I didn’t cancel the plane tickets. I always had confidence,” said Rick Brown, a 53-year-old Jamaican-born Canadian who arrived in the city on Tuesday with his two young children to cheer on his team as they try to qualify for their second World Cup.
“I feel quite safe. There are a lot of guards,” he added, pointing to the heavily armed police outside the stadium. “The city is great. It reminds me of Jamaica: the people, the food, the weather, it’s like a home away from home.”
But much of the attention was outside the stadium.
Both teams arrived at the stadium under tight security. Military and police armed with rifles escorted the teams from the moment they landed in the city.
Guadalajara will host four World Cup group stage matches, hosting teams such as Mexico, Spain and Uruguay. The South Korean and Colombian teams also chose Guadalajara as their bases.
Although the city sought to use the World Cup as a platform to attract more tourism and invested in local infrastructure and beautified public squares ahead of the competition, the imminent arrival of around 3 million visitors also highlighted cartel violence and the thousands of missing people in the state of Jalisco, whose capital is Guadalajara.
“We continue to reinforce security, especially within the state. We have reestablished institutional presence and security measures so that people feel safe and secure wherever they go. And the best way to feel safe is to see security personnel nearby,” said Jalisco’s public security secretary, Juan Pablo Hernandez, explaining that more than 2,000 agents were ensuring the safety of teams and those present at the stadium.
“Jamaica against New Caledonia is one of the most important test matches we have before the World Cup,” he added, mentioning that his team received training from the FBI and various police forces, such as those in France and Colombia, to deal with any unforeseen events related to insecurity.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the international football body is “analysing” the situation in Mexico, but downplayed concerns and emphasized that he has “complete confidence” in the country, its president Claudia Sheinbaum and the authorities.
Disappearances crisis
In Mexico, more than 132,000 people are registered as missing. Jalisco, home to one of the two most powerful criminal groups in the country — the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — accounts for 10% of the total.
Sheinbaum promised to improve authorities’ ability to find the missing by improving coordination between law enforcement agencies and facilitating data sharing between states.
But researchers and families of victims say the number of missing people could be even higher, as one in four cases is not reported for fear of reprisals. Families across the country have taken matters into their own hands, criticizing local authorities for not doing enough and sometimes reaching out to relatives and friends on their own.
In March last year, in a case that shocked the country, a search party entered a farm an hour west of Guadalajara after receiving an anonymous tip and found about 200 pairs of shoes, hundreds of articles of clothing and charred human remains. Authorities later said the site appeared to be an execution center and training camp for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Since last year, search parties have found at least 500 bags containing human remains in four graves within a 12-mile radius of Akron Stadium, highlighting the magnitude of the missing persons crisis plaguing the state.
“It’s not that we disagree with the World Cup; we disagree with excessive public spending on aesthetics or cleaning areas for tourists, when Mexico is a country that is going through many crises, especially in relation to public security and disappearances,” said Hector Flores, 45, co-founder of the search group Luz de Esperanza.
Speaking at a roundabout covered with missing persons posters in Jalisco, Flores recalled that his son, Hector Daniel, was taken from his home in May 2021 by officials from the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office.
Since then, he has made the search a way of life and, after years of institutional silence, in June, a court recognized his son as a victim of forced disappearance, confirming not only the involvement of state agents in his disappearance, but also recognizing that the Mexican State seriously violated its human rights obligations.
The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“The World Cup is an excellent opportunity to ask the international community for help and for them to learn about the situation in Mexico. It is unacceptable that more than 133,000 families are looking for their loved ones and absolutely nothing is happening. Jalisco is a mass grave, all of Mexico is a mass grave,” he said.
