“Although, at this time, ARTICLE 19 has no record of prior threats, it is urgent that the authorities take action and investigate her disappearance due to her work searching for her and as a human rights defender. We demand that the authorities also take action to protect María’s family and the collective,” the international non-governmental organization emphasized on its social media account.
On October 14, 2025, Corazones Unidos por una Misma Causa A.C. (United Hearts for a Same Cause, A.C.), reported through its various social media accounts that the member of its collective was deprived of her liberty by a group of armed men in the Salvador Allende neighborhood, in the port of Mazatlán. This complaint was echoed by the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico.
The alert was posted on the collective’s Facebook account at 3:34 p.m. on October 14, 2025, with a photograph of the activist. Other non-governmental organizations replicated the message to further publicize the case.
According to initial information provided by her colleagues, the activist—who joined Corazones Unidos por una Misma Causa A.C. (United Hearts for the Same Cause), A.C., after the disappearance of her father, Manuel Valenzuela, in 2024, and her cousin, which occurred on February 12, 2025—was intercepted and forcibly abducted by a group of individuals traveling in a white vehicle, presumably near her home or while shopping.
