Roundabout of the Disappeared
Roundabout of the Disappeared, formerly the Glorieta de los Niños Héroes, is a memorial site in Guadalajara. Designed by Vicente Morales Mendiola in 1950, it was created to commemorate the cadets who died in the Battle of Chapultepec. The sculpture was made by Juan Fernando Olaguíbel Rosenzweig and features a circular plaza with a 50-meter column, cadet figures at the base, and a female figure representing the nation at the top. In March 2018, activists and families of disappeared people gathered there and symbolically renamed it the Glorieta de las y los desaparecidos, turning it into a site for demands for justice in Jalisco.
May 2018 © Pancho GDL · CC BY-SA 4.0
September 2020 © Salvador alc · CC BY-SA 4.0
July 2023 © Mtenaespinoza · CC BY-SA 4.0
March 2022 © Wotancito · CC BY-SA 4.0
March 2022 © Wotancito · CC BY-SA 4.0
Identification | |
| Title | Roundabout of the disappeared |
| Type | Roundabout / public memorial space |
| Type of site | Memorial site |
| Original Spanish name | Glorieta de las y los desaparecidos |
Location and ownership | |
| Location | Glorieta de los Niños Héroes, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Sited in | a roundabout |
Historical context | |
| Year designed | 1950 |
| Historical/social significance | it became an iconic place for demonstrations and protests against disappearances |
| Original monument name | Monumento a los Niños Héroes |
| Commemorates | the cadets who died during the Battle of Chapultepec |
Creator | |
| Sculptor | Juan Fernando Olaguíbel Rosenzweig |
| Designed by | Vicente Morales Mendiola |
Physical characteristics | |
| Form | circular plaza with a 50-meter column |
| Base feature | the column base is surrounded by the martyr cadets |
| Upper feature | a female figure representing the homeland stands at the top of the column |
| Female figure attributes | wearing a tunic and a garland |
| Column height | 50 meters |
Materials | |
| Inscription | "Murieron por la Patria" |
Appearance | |
| Depicted figures | the Niños Héroes de Chapultepec |
| Associated monument | monument with a sculpture |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Symbolic interpretation in 2018 | the roundabout was presented as no longer belonging to the Niños Héroes, but to the disappeared of Jalisco and Mexico |
| Current use / meaning | site to demand justice for missing persons in Jalisco |
| Associated cause | disappearances and missing persons in Jalisco |
| Function as described by activists | a space of memory to make the issue visible and a place where missing persons can be displayed and remembered |
| Use | symbolic place for demonstrations and protests against disappearances and for demanding government action |
History and restoration | |
| Public reaction | the municipal plan was criticized on social media by local residents |
| Event mentioned | screens were to be installed so fans could watch the Apertura 2021 final between Atlas and León |
| Person mentioned | Pablo Lemus Navarro, municipal president |
| Related football club | Atlas |
| Conflict over public use | in 2021 there was debate over whether Atlas fans should celebrate there because it had become a site of social protest and remembrance for disappeared people |
| Related celebratory tradition | Atlas supporters traditionally celebrate their team at the roundabout |
| Municipal action in April 2020 | the municipal government of Guadalajara cleaned the monument |
| Quoted opposition stance | the FEU and the University of Guadalajara said they would not erase the complaints that hurt Jalisco and opposed the city council's removal of the 8-M slogans until the demands are met |
| Related protests | graffiti and slogans from the March 8 (8-M) feminist demonstrations |
| Controversy | the cleaning was disputed by the Federation of University Students, who opposed the removal of graffiti made during feminist demonstrations |
| Cleaning method | pressure washing |
| What was cleaned | graffiti and paint markings were cleaned |
| What was removed during the cleaning | banners and photographs were removed |
| Stated reason for cleaning | according to the city government, the cleaning was done with the consent of FUNDEJ |
| Missing students mentioned | Jesús Daniel Díaz, Javier Salomón Aceves, and Marco Francisco García, three film students from the University of Audiovisual Media (CAAV), disappeared on 19 March in Tonalá |
| Date mentioned | 2021 |
| Date mentioned | April 2020 |
| Date mentioned | June 2019 |
| Date mentioned | 22 June 2019 |
| Date mentioned | 30 April 2019 |
| Associated organizations | Red Contra la Desaparición Xalisco; FUNDEJ |
| Associated group | FUNDEJ (Familias Unidas Por Nuestros Desaparecidos Jalisco) |
| Associated with | the march and protest also served for people to share testimonies and remember disappeared relatives |
| Participant statement | Jesús Medina said the roundabout took on a different meaning and became an open wound |
| Another missing person mentioned | César Arellano, a medical student at the University of Guadalajara, disappeared in Huentitán |
| Reason for March 2018 protest | disappearances including Jesús Daniel Díaz, Javier Salomón Aceves, Marco Francisco García, and César Arellano |
| March 2018 event | activists and relatives of missing persons demonstrated at the roundabout |
| Rebaptized symbolically as | Glorieta de las y los desaparecidos during the March 2018 protest |
| Symbolic renaming | Glorieta de las y los desaparecidos |
| Later intervention | intervened by activists |
| Quoted description | a space of memory for making visible what is happening and a place to exhibit missing persons |