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In the early hours of July 7, Valeria Carrasco, a 25-year-old transgender woman, was murdered inside her home in Villa de Álvarez, a municipality in the state of Colima, located on Mexico's west coast. Her friends and activists are demanding justice. To date, neither the State Human Rights Commission nor the State Attorney General's Office has issued a statement or released any official information regarding the investigation into this crime.

“What can I say about Valeria? She was my best friend, the one I could tell everything to, and who told me everything. I'll remember her for all her joy; she was cheerful, loved to party, and was also down-to-earth. Our close group of friends will miss her terribly,” says Andrés Silvestre, Valeria's friend, in an interview, his voice thick with emotion. 

Valeria was found in her bed without vital signs. She had bruises and signs of torture on her feet and hands, according to a report by local journalist Roberto Macías. This information was confirmed to Presentes by Andrés Silvestre, a close friend of Valeria. 

“My friend, who is also Valeria’s friend, was the one who saw her and was in shock. When I arrived, the house was already cordoned off and the Red Cross paramedics confirmed that she had signs of asphyxiation,” Andrés says in an interview with Presentes.

“She would have told us if she felt unsafe or nervous about something. At two in the morning, I was texting her, and an hour later she was murdered in her home, and they took our friend from us,” she adds. 

The Prosecutor's Office does not respond

According to records from the Dissident Pride Collective, three trans women have been murdered in Colima so far this year. Presentes attempted to contact the Prosecutor's Office to learn the status of these hate crimes and to find out the approach being taken in the investigation of Valeria's murder. They were unsuccessful. It is still unknown whether Valeria's murder is being investigated as a femicide. 

Colima is one of the few states in the country that, within the protocol for action on the crime of femicide , whose objective is to investigate "with a gender perspective, differential approach and human rights," contemplates that it must be applied "to all women, including trans women: transvestites, transsexuals and transgender."

“For us, the circumstances of Valeria’s murder suggest it was a hate crime. But neither in this case nor in the two previous ones has the Prosecutor’s Office responded, nor have they presented any suspects,” says activist Carlos Ruiz, a member of the Dissident Pride Collective. This is despite the fact that since 2015, the Colima Penal Code has included the aggravating circumstance of homicide based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Even after her death, her family could not respect who she was.”

Andrés knew Valeria before she could put into words that she was "a trans woman" and says that there was always resistance in her family to accepting her. 

"For me, it's outrageous and makes me feel powerless, because she would tell me, 'Dude, I talked to my family and told them that this is who I am and that they have to respect me.' And seeing her like that, I mean, they made her revert to something she wasn't. It infuriates me that even after her death, her family couldn't respect who she was," Andrés recounts during the interview.

In Mexico, it is common to dress and apply makeup to deceased individuals before burial or cremation. Valeria's family did not respect her gender identity or expression at her wake. 

Andrés describes Valeria as a person who "lived in the present" and who was committed to enjoying life, as he says she was aware of the insecurity in the state and the transphobic violence.

The call for justice

“We (the group of close friends) are all outraged. We demand that the press reports speak respectfully of our friend, that the police do their job without mocking her, that they investigate with compassion, and that those who are going to question us do so without intimidation because my friend—who saw everything—and I were treated badly. Imagine, my friend was in shock and they were yelling at her. We don't know how her family will handle the investigation, but we, her friends, just want justice to be done,” says Andrés, Valeria's friend.

Indira Vizcaíno, the governor-elect of Colima, who will be sworn in on November 1st, spoke out on the matter. “No more hate crimes, no more discrimination, no more violence against women. Let's work towards a culture of respect for our sexual orientations, genders, and identities,” part of her message .

For the Orgullo Disidente collective, the incoming governor's message is "positive," but it doesn't represent "a guarantee." They added, "We applaud the message because Indira was also one of the driving forces behind marriage equality, and we do believe it's not just lip service, but that doesn't mean we're giving her carte blanche. Now that she's in power, she has to prove it, and if she doesn't, we'll be there, demanding that our rights be guaranteed, that there be public policies in place, and that justice processes be expedited."

Colima, the most unsafe state in Mexico

Colima was considered a peaceful state for many years. According to an analysis by InSight Crime, the increase in violence in Colima is related to a territorial dispute between three criminal organizations, as its geographic location and the presence of the port of Manzanillo make it an "invaluable drug trafficking corridor."

For Carlos Ortiz, the particular violence against LGBT people is not only related to disputes between drug cartels, but also to the security strategy that has kept the military occupying the streets of the country for 15 years. 

“Colima became a hornet’s nest; it was struck, and a wave of violence erupted. Add to that the prevailing patriarchy; the pervasive transphobia; and the complete lack of public policies for LGBT populations, especially trans people, and you have a situation where we are not immune to ridicule, jokes, harassment, exclusion, discrimination, abductions (kidnappings and disappearances), attacks, and brutal murders not only within the family, at school, and at work, but also on the streets,” Ruiz explains.

From 2016 to the present, Colima has been the state with the highest number of intentional homicides, femicides, domestic violence, extortion, and crimes against sexual freedom and security per 100,000 inhabitants, far exceeding the national average. According to an analysis by Daniela Osorio, the state capital and Villa de Álvarez—where Valeria was murdered—are the areas where the population faces the greatest risk in relation to these crimes.