ABSTRACT
The Ayotzinapa case is only the tip of iceberg of the phenomenon of disappearances in Mexico. Ayotzinapa can be situated at the crossroads of different temporalities of disappearances. Although the Ayotzinapa case put the issue of disappearances firmly on the agenda, this phenomenon is far from being exclusive to the present. In the context of the Cold War, a number of anti-communist and authoritarian governments in Latin America resorted to the practice of enforced disappearance as an instrument to eliminate political dissidents. Although enforced disappearances were also carried out in Mexico in the 1970s, academic research about the region has devoted most attention to countries such as Argentina, Chile, Guatemala and El Salvador, to name just the most studied.
