Abstract

GOMEZ JOHNSON, Cristina. Flee Not to Die: Human Mobility in Structural Violence. The Mexican Case. Hist. graf [online]. 2019, n.52, pp.57-95. ISSN 1405-0927.

The systematic violation of human rights is suffered by both the Mexican population and migrants in transit through Mexico, victims of both criminal gangs and the apathy or negligence of various police corporations. Mexico shares with other Latin American countries a context of structural violence that violates both nationals and foreigners, in addition to the economic precariousness that facilitates this situation. “National security” becomes the pretext for the violation of rights by the State that, focused on the “protection of the physical integrity” of the population, forgets basic issues of human security: employment, housing, education, health . In a context of sustained violence, without guarantees of respect for basic rights, the discourse of human rights as a defense tool that responds to the demands of the population, national and / or foreign, seems a way out. However, there is a difficult distance to overcome between the written law and its implementation.

The goal of this text is to portray the situation of structural violence in Mexico, which is the result of a negligent State, that sometimes is a perpetrator of violence by itself. Security becomes a pretext to justify the use of force against civilian population. Migrants are the most vulnerable, as they lack of a regular legal status to protect them, at least formally. Mexico has signed agreements regarding the rights of migrants, and has even modified laws and regulations to ensure the free and safe passage of migrants through the country. However, this is not reflected in Mexican migratory management. But it is not only a question of foreign population, but also the mobility of Mexicans themselves, fleeing from violent contexts, must of them crossing the country without security guarantees. In order to document this situation, primary and secondary sources were reviewed, including government databases, newspaper coverage and, of course, testimonies, collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and a detailed follow-up documented in a field diary.

Keywords : violence; DDHH; voluntary mobility; forced displacement and migration.

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