Mexico’s EZLN Delegates to Meet Mothers of the Missing
MEXICO · SOCIETY
Key Facts
- —The country Mexico, home to about 130 million people, has more than 120,000 people listed as missing in its national registry.
- —Why it matters Groups of mothers called buscadoras search for missing relatives themselves, often digging for remains where they say the state has failed.
- —What changed On Saturday 3 October the Zapatista rebels of Chiapas said their next big journey will centre on these mothers.
- —What happened So far 1,509 EZLN delegates have signed up to leave Chiapas on 29 November and return around 10 January 2027.
- —The numbers More than 300 of them are theatre performers, travelling in over 31 rented buses paid for by European supporters.
- —What it means for you Expect Zapatista gatherings in Mexico City in December, including in the Ajusco area in the south of the capital.
- —Still open The mothers’ groups will pick the meeting dates, and the return date and a stop in Puebla are not yet settled.
More than 1,500 EZLN delegates from Mexico’s Zapatista movement plan to travel to Mexico City this winter. They want to meet mothers searching for missing relatives, in what the movement calls an “encuentro-abrazo”, or embrace-encounter.
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, the movement’s spokesman, set out the plan on Saturday 3 October 2026 in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. His words appeared the same day on Enlace Zapatista, the movement’s website.
What the Zapatistas Announced
Moisés said 1,509 people had registered so far, “plus those who climb aboard at the last minute”. The EZLN delegates will leave before dawn on Sunday 29 November from CIDECI, an Indigenous training centre in San Cristóbal.
They expect to return on or around Sunday 10 January 2027, a date he said still needs to be confirmed. That means about six weeks away from home, spanning December and the first week of January.
“The main objective is the embrace-encounter with the searching mothers,” Moisés said. “It is important that this is well understood and very clear.”
In Mexico City the group will base itself at the Casa de los Pueblos Samir Flores Soberanes. It is a community house run by an Otomí Indigenous community in the capital.
Who the Zapatistas Are
The EZLN, short for Zapatista Army of National Liberation, is an Indigenous movement rooted in the highlands and jungle of Chiapas. It is Mexico’s southernmost state and borders Guatemala.
The Zapatistas rose up in arms on 1 January 1994, the day the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect. The fighting lasted less than two weeks before a ceasefire.
Since then the movement has run its own self-governing communities and schools. It has left Chiapas from time to time to make its case, and in 2021 a delegation even sailed to Europe.
The current plan continues that Europe tour under a new name, the Journey for Life, Mexico Chapter. The San Cristóbal meeting with searching mothers and supporters’ groups runs from 2 to 4 October, EFE reported.
Why the Searching Mothers
Mexico’s national registry listed 121,631 people as still missing for the period from 2000 to 30 June 2026, Crónica reported. A government report in March counted 130,178 people with that status since 2006, N+ reported.
Families often search on their own, guided by tips and digging with shovels in the hills. On 30 August they marched in at least 16 states, many carrying the tools they use in the field.
The Ajusco area in the Tlalpan borough, a wooded mountain zone on the southern edge of Mexico City, is one focus. More than 100 people disappeared there between January 2019 and March 2026, the news agency EFE reported.
Search collectives have combed Ajusco dozens of times, EFE added. The agency placed the EZLN delegates’ visit in that area at the end of December and the start of January.
How the Trip Will Be Organised
More than 300 of the travellers are theatre performers, Moisés said. They will stage three plays, called Bichos, Agüitas and El Común en el día después.
Transport will need more than 31 rented buses. Moisés said the money came from left-wing groups in Europe, originally set aside for a European leg of the tour.
The Zapatistas also asked supporters to redirect all fundraising towards bringing searching mothers’ groups to Mexico City. Each group can choose its own dates in December or the first week of January.
Supporters are asked to help with transport, lodging and food for the mothers and the EZLN delegates. Moisés also warned against using the meeting for electoral or sectarian ends.
Stops Beyond the Capital
Visits to the states of Oaxaca and Querétaro are planned, while a stop in Puebla is still under discussion. La Jornada de Oriente, a Puebla newspaper, reported the plan on Sunday 4 October.
Even the yearly celebration of the 1994 uprising on 1 January now depends on the meeting with the mothers. In 2027 the movement marks 33 years since that day.
What Comes Next
Over the coming weeks the mothers’ groups are expected to choose their dates, and the Zapatistas to confirm the full route. The EZLN delegates set off from Chiapas on 29 November.
Before that, about 100 Zapatistas, Moisés among them, plan to meet searching families in Chiapas in late November, Chiapas Paralelo reported. The venue has not been set.
Families from Mexico City have also invited the Zapatistas to a day of field searching in Ajusco in December, the outlet added.
The trip is not a military operation or a new uprising. It is a bus journey with plays, meetings and an embrace of families who say they search alone.
Nor will it solve the disappearances. What it can do is put the searching mothers back at the centre of national attention for several weeks.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
What is the EZLN?
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is an Indigenous movement from Chiapas, in southern Mexico. It led a brief armed uprising in January 1994 and has since run its own self-governing communities.
Who are Mexico’s searching mothers?
They are mostly mothers who look for missing children and other relatives on their own, often digging for remains. More than 120,000 people are listed as missing in Mexico’s national registry.
When will the EZLN delegates be in Mexico City?
The 1,509 EZLN delegates registered so far plan to leave Chiapas on 29 November 2026. They expect to stay through December and return around 10 January 2027.
Does the trip affect visitors to Mexico City?
It is a civilian trip by bus, built around meetings and theatre. Visitors may see gatherings in the south of the capital in December, but no disruption has been announced.
Sources: Enlace Zapatista (words of Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés), 3 October 2026; La Jornada de Oriente, 4 October 2026; EFE via Infobae, 3 October 2026; La Voz de Michoacán, 3 October 2026; Chiapas Paralelo, 3 October 2026; Crónica, 16 September 2026; N+, 27 March 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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