With a lump in their throats and a heavy heart, the organization Las Abejas de Acteal received the news of the passing of their beloved sister, Blanca Martínez Bustos, “a tireless fighter and defender of human rights.” The sky that embraces her land, they said, turned gray, and the mountains, wounded by the bullets of the paramilitaries who murdered 45 of their own, mourn her loss. They vow to preserve and cherish her memory as they do that of their martyrs.
Their grief runs deep. Las Abejas explained that they met Blanca on the path of building justice and peace. She accompanied them in denouncing the state crime committed in the Acteal massacre, when she collaborated with the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights, and later with the Fray Juan de Larios Center in Saltillo, alongside Jtotik Raúl Vera. Blanca – they emphasize – was always working and speaking out for truth, justice, memory, and not oblivion.
Blanca Martínez died in the early morning of November 10th, as a result of complications from esophageal surgery, at an IMSS clinic in Saltillo. She was 62 years old. Father Martín, who officiated the funeral mass, said: “You have fulfilled your mission, Blanca, and you fulfilled it very well, giving your best. That seed planted by your parents and grandmother blossomed and grew. You always fought for peace and justice, and you were always there for those who needed you” (https://shorturl.at/y6neu).
Blanca prominently represents a generation of human rights defenders who were trained in promoting grassroots development; from a Catholic perspective, she consolidated permanent organizations for their defense and promotion, and laid the groundwork for denouncing the serious crisis of disappearances in our country, as we know it today. A generation that took up the mantle of the struggle begun by Rosario Ibarra de Piedra and the other women against the repression and disappearances of the Dirty War, but under new circumstances: those of the expansion of organized crime violence, unleashed by Felipe Calderón’s war on drugs. A group of activists who managed to bring to light a very serious problem minimized by the State and expand it to a national level, and who were able to influence how it was addressed at different times.
In the words of Abel Barrera, director of Tlachinollan, she was a “valuable and committed colleague, a pioneer in supporting groups of family members. She always had the support and trust of Bishops Samuel Ruiz and Raúl Vera. She was a role model in supporting victims.”
Blanca was born in Torreón on October 23rd, 1963, but her childhood and youth were spent in León. She was the second of six siblings. Her family lived in poverty but with dignity, day to day, and without property. She was based in the El Chorrillo neighborhood, the headquarters and regional center of influence for leather and shoe workers and artisans. From a young age, she participated in urban (Union of Neighborhoods) and trade union (Authentic Labor Front) movements. She was a formidable social worker.
Miguel Álvarez, from SERAPAZ, knew her since 1978, when he was involved with movements in Guanajuato. A member of the National Team for Animating the Basic Ecclesial Communities (CEB), he worked with her. According to him, Blanca was “selfless, generous, supportive, always strong and steadfast. A favorite nanny and aunt, she knew love, but preferred companions to husbands.” Her most personal growth – he explains – occurred in the Christian Life Communities (CLC) process, which, inspired by Ignatian spirituality and promoted by the so-called Jesuit workers, fostered social commitment among young Christians. Blanca distinguished and valued both spaces, and chose to dedicate herself fully to the CEBs. She grew in both ecclesial and lay movements. She knew and was known by the bishops of the Liberation movement who animated these processes.
In 1990, she was part of the secretariat that supported the Group of Bishops Friends, both in its Latin American episcopal dynamism (connecting 200 bishops, with a comprehensive team of advisors and an information system), and in its call for national coordination, which took shape with the National Network of the Church of the Poor.
She participated in the National Mediation Commission (CONAI), formed in the wake of the 1994 Zapatista armed uprising. Two years later, she joined SERAPAZ. Shortly after, she was appointed director of Frayba, during a very difficult period. There, she distinguished herself for her defense of the San Andrés Accords and the rights of indigenous peoples, while also promoting the professionalization of the documentation of human rights violations.
With Raúl Vera as Bishop of Saltillo, she moved there to re-establish what was a diocesan human rights center, contributing what she had learned in Chiapas to the victims’ movements throughout the country. Her transfer coincided with the escalation of violence in the state and the growing number of families searching for their missing loved ones. Despite the difficulties of working in this field in a state like Coahuila, she recognized in these families a powerful social force, given its history of struggle and organization. Her role in the Fray Juan Larios Human Rights Center, United Forces for Our Disappeared in Coahuila and Mexico (Fuundec-Fundem), and in national convergences was fundamental.
The crisis of disappearances remains a major unresolved issue in our country. In the debate on how to address it, Blanca Martínez’s legacy is essential. Her commitment, love, and empathy for this cause offer profound lessons for all human rights activists. The grief over her loss, expressed by the Abejas de Acteal and so many other collectives and activists, is a testament to the profound lessons her work leaves behind.
Original article by Luis Hernández Navarro, La Jornada, December 2nd, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.