In the framework of the XXXIII Meeting of the European Union–Mexico Joint Parliamentary Commission, a delegation of Members of the European Parliament will hold a meeting this Wednesday with human rights and civil society organizations at the Colegio de San Ildefonso, at eleven in the morning. The meeting aims to hear first-hand the most urgent issues of the Mexican reality and to open a space for direct dialogue between European representatives and social actors.
The Centro Católico Multimedial (CCM), led by Father Omar Sotelo Aguilar, will present a report on the murders of priests and attacks against parishes, evangelization agents, and laypeople, a phenomenon that reflects the vulnerability of religious communities in the face of organized crime and social violence. The presentation will be followed by an open debate with the MEPs, who will also receive testimonies from organizations such as SweFOR, Swedish Movement for Reconciliation, dedicated to peace and the peaceful resolution of conflicts; Article 19, defenders of freedom of expression and the right to information; the Commission on the Legal and Social Status of Women (CSW), which works for women’s empowerment and gender equality; and the Movement for Our Disappeared, which brings together groups of relatives in the search for justice and truth.
The European delegation of legislators is led by Antonio López-Istúriz White, Spanish MEP of the European People’s Party since 2004, president of the Delegation for Relations with Mexico and a key figure in foreign policy and human rights. He is accompanied by diverse profiles such as Camilla Laureti, journalist and Italian MEP of the Socialists and Democrats Group, vice-president of the EU-Mexico JPC; Mariateresa Vivaldini, Italian agricultural entrepreneur and mayor, representative of the Conservatives and Reformists Group; Inese Vaidere, Latvian economist and former Minister of the Environment; and Esther Herranz García, Spanish specialist in environment and agriculture, with extensive experience in the European Parliament.
Also part of the delegation are Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez, former mayor of Seville and former Spanish Minister of the Interior, now MEP in the committees on International Trade and Civil Liberties; Juan Carlos Girauta Vidal, Spanish writer and columnist of the Patriots for Europe group, with experience as a parliamentary spokesperson in Spain; Urmas Paet, former Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs and expert in Arctic policy and cyber defense; and Ana Miranda Paz, Galician MEP of the Greens group, defender of human rights and the environment, vice-president of the EuroLat Parliamentary Assembly.
The meeting at San Ildefonso is conceived as an exercise in direct interlocution. The MEPs will hear complaints about religious violence, censorship, inequality, and disappearances, with the aim of understanding the complex Mexican reality and bringing these concerns to international forums. It represents an opportunity to highlight the lamentable situation of murdered priests and attacks against Catholic communities and to build alliances that strengthen the defense of fundamental rights. The participation of organizations such as CCM, SweFOR, Article 19, CSW, and the Movement for Our Disappeared ensures that the issues addressed reflect the diversity of social struggles in the country, seeking to open new routes of cooperation between Europe and Mexico in favor of justice, peace, and human dignity.