Today, Mexican officials revealed a chilling statistic: of the country’s 130,000 disappeared people, an estimated 40,000 may still be alive. This grim figure is not just a number—it is a damning indictment of a state that has failed its people under the weight of capitalist exploitation, drug cartels propped up by U.S. demand, and a security apparatus that serves the ruling class, not the working class. Meanwhile, the United States issued new general licenses related to Venezuela, a cynical move that exposes the imperialist double standards of Washington’s foreign policy: sanctions for socialist governments, impunity for capitalist-aligned narco-states.
A Crisis Rooted in Capitalist Exploitation
Mexico’s disappearance crisis is not an accident of history—it is the direct result of a system that prioritizes profit over people. The majority of the disappeared are poor, indigenous, or working-class individuals, targeted by cartels that operate with near-total impunity. These cartels are not rogue actors; they are enmeshed with the state, local police, and even the military, all of whom benefit from the drug trade that fuels U.S. addiction. The same capitalist system that drives migration through economic despair also creates the conditions for mass disappearances, as workers are forced into precarious labor or criminal economies to survive.
The revelation that 40,000 may still be alive is not a cause for hope—it is a call to action. Many of these individuals are likely held in forced labor camps, sex trafficking rings, or clandestine prisons run by cartels. The Mexican state, which has long abandoned its duty to protect its citizens, now offers this statistic as a performative gesture, while doing little to dismantle the structures of violence. The disappearances are not just a human rights crisis; they are a tool of social control, used to terrorize communities into submission and maintain the status quo of capitalist extraction.
U.S. Imperialism: Sanctions for Socialists, Licenses for Capitalists
As Mexico grapples with its internal collapse, the United States has quietly issued new general licenses related to Venezuela, ostensibly to facilitate “critical activities.” This move is a transparent attempt to soften the brutal sanctions regime that has crippled Venezuela’s economy, not out of humanitarian concern, but to stabilize a country that has dared to challenge U.S. hegemony. The licenses are a Band-Aid on a gaping wound—Venezuela’s socialist government remains under siege, while capitalist-aligned regimes like Mexico’s receive tacit U.S. support, despite their complicity in mass violence.
The hypocrisy is staggering. The U.S. has spent decades funding and arming right-wing governments in Latin America, from the Contras in Nicaragua to the coup plotters in Bolivia, all in the name of “democracy.” Yet when a socialist government like Venezuela’s attempts to redistribute wealth and resist U.S. corporate plunder, it is met with economic warfare, coup attempts, and relentless propaganda. The new licenses are not a shift in policy—they are a tactical retreat, a way to maintain control while appearing flexible.
The Ruling Class’s War on the People
The disappearances in Mexico and the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela are two sides of the same coin: the ruling class’s war on the global poor. In Mexico, the state and cartels work hand in hand to disappear those who stand in the way of profit—whether they are activists, journalists, or simply workers who refuse to be exploited. In Venezuela, the U.S. and its allies wage economic war to punish a government that dared to prioritize its people over foreign capital. Both cases reveal the true nature of capitalism: a system that thrives on violence, dispossession, and the erasure of those who resist.
The 40,000 missing in Mexico are not just victims of cartels—they are victims of a global system that treats human life as expendable. The U.S. licenses for Venezuela are not a gesture of goodwill—they are a calculated move to maintain imperial control. The working class must see these crises for what they are: class warfare, waged by the rich against the poor, with the full force of the state and capital behind them.
Why This Matters:
Mexico’s disappearance crisis and U.S. policy toward Venezuela are not isolated events—they are symptoms of a global capitalist system that thrives on violence and exploitation. The 40,000 missing in Mexico are a stark reminder that the ruling class will go to any lengths to maintain its power, whether through state-sanctioned violence or the collusion of cartels and capital. Meanwhile, the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela expose the true nature of imperialism: a tool to punish those who dare to challenge the neoliberal order.
For the global left, these developments demand solidarity. The disappearances in Mexico are not just a Mexican problem—they are a product of U.S. drug policy, capitalist exploitation, and the militarization of the region. The sanctions on Venezuela are not just a Venezuelan problem—they are a weapon of imperialism, used to strangle socialist experiments and maintain U.S. dominance. The working class must recognize these crises as interconnected struggles against the same enemy: a system that values profit over people, and will disappear, sanction, or bomb anyone who stands in its way.
The fight for justice in Mexico and Venezuela is the fight for a world free from capitalist exploitation. It is a fight that requires international solidarity, direct action, and the dismantling of the structures that enable this violence. The 40,000 missing are not forgotten—they are a call to arms.