Last Thursday, TBI Program Officer Michael Lettieri visited Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME to address the topic of violence in Mexico and and try to make sense of the phenomenon of mass disappearances. Following the talk, a fantastic audience of students, faculty, and community members discussed a range of issues including the myth of the innocent bystander, the problem of narco-culture, and the challenges of addressing the violence through international institutions.

While much of the discussion focused on the causes and impact of disappearances, the talk concluded with a recognition that many in Mexico are committed to finding solutions to the violence and attempting to provide justice to victims. Observing that, while there may never be institutional justice, the talk recognized that “…what there can be, and what many are working toward, is an honest attempt from the bottom-up by journalists and civil society at truth-telling, of giving voice to the pain of those who have suffered, giving them dignity and recognition… Rather than the gory photos of violence that appear in much of the media, journalists such as Ignacio Carvajal and Marcela Turati capture the effects of that violence in eloquent prose. They document the pain of victims and survivors; their work is, in part, testimonial. Not only is their work vital to making sense of Mexico’s violence, in some ways it also represents the best possibility for justice.”