10 years after migrant massacre, Mexico pledges justice

so that in cases of forced disappearance, in every case that represents a violation of human rights, the UN could intervene with no limitations," López Obrador said. In the 2010 massacre, members of the old Zetas cartel stopped two tractor-trailers carrying dozens of mostly Central American migrants and took them to a ranch in San Fernando, in the Gulf coast border state of Tamaulipas.

Mexico's president said Monday the United Nations would be welcome to come to Mexico to investigate any rights violation like the August 24, 2010 massacre of 72 migrants in the northern town of San Fernando. Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the slaughter of mostly Central American migrants, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he has proposed legal changes to make international investigations possible from the start, especially in cases of forced disappearances.

Mexican law currently gives sole power to Mexican prosecutors in such cases. Forced disappearance is when police, military or other public employees kidnap and “disappear” someone. “We are about to send a bill approved by the executive branch to the Senate ... so that in cases of forced disappearance, in every case that represents a violation of human rights, the UN could intervene with no limitations," López Obrador said.

In the 2010 massacre, members of the old Zetas cartel stopped two tractor-trailers carrying dozens of mostly Central American migrants and took them to a ranch in San Fernando, in the Gulf coast border state of Tamaulipas. After the migrants refused to work for the cartel, they were blindfolded, tied up on the floor and shot dead. One migrant played dead, escaped and alerted authorities, who found 72 corpses at the ranch.

Both Zetas and local police were implicated in the massacre. Activists and relatives have criticized both the handling of the investigation and the bodies of the victims. The motive in the massacre may have been the Zetas' desire to recruit the migrants, but the killers also apparently wanted to discourage migrant traffickers allied with rival gangs from sending migrants through what they considered their turf. In many aspects, Mexico has seen a rebound of bloody events like those that marked the country's 2006-2012 drug war, including the dumping of bodies on highways, arson attacks, mass killings at parties and beheadings. But since then there has been no major migrant massacre, and a possible recurrence of that is one of López Obrador's worst fears.