Day of the Dead takes on new meaning for families of Mexico's disappeared

CSM: Mexicans traditionally visit the graves of dead relatives on the Day of the Dead, but it's a difficult time for the families of the thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared amid Mexico's drug violence.

By Associated Press / November 2, 2012

Maria Elena Salazar refuses to set out plates of her missing son's favorite foods or orange flowers as offerings for the deceased on Mexico's Day of the Dead, even though she hasn't seen him in three-and-a-half years.

The 50-year-old former teacher is convinced that Hugo Gonzalez Salazar, a university graduate in marketing who worked for a telephone company, is still alive and being forced to work for a drug cartel because of his skills.

"The government, the authorities, they know it, that the gangs took them away to use as forced labor," said Salazar of her then 24-year-old son, who disappeared in the northern city of Torreon in July 2009.

The Day of the Dead – when Mexicans traditionally visit the graves of dead relatives and leave offerings of flowers, food and candy skulls – is a difficult time for the families of the thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared amid a wave of drug-fueled violence. Read more.