Thousands of women dressed in black marched through the streets of Mexico City this Sunday to mark a Mother’s Day of mourning. They carried large photographs of children who have disappeared during years of cartel violence and government failure. As the nation prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup, these families are demanding that soccer fans and international officials look at the empty chairs at their dinner tables.

"There is nothing to celebrate, because the mothers of Mexico are playing the most difficult match: the one for justice," the collectives said in a joint statement. The protest highlights the growing sense of impunity in a state where thousands have vanished without a trace. In some regions, the local government is accused of being a captive subsidiary of the cartels. This Mother's Day march serves as a stark reminder that the flourishing of the family is impossible when the state cannot guarantee the basic right to life and safety. The spectacle of a global sporting event cannot hide the deep, unhealed wounds of a society that has lost its children to the shadows of corruption.