One year after the
disappearance of 43 Mexican
students, disclosure seems
as far away as it ever has.
Questions pile up while
answers are buried and
hidden ever deeper in one
of the worst state cover-ups
and worst state/criminal
gang massacres in Mexican
history.
On September 26
th
, 2014 a group
of about 100 students from a small
rural community in the state of Guerrero,
Mexico called, Ayotzinapa, were traveling to
participate in a protest. Upon arriving in the
city of Iguala where the protest was to take
place, police alongside unmarked armed men
dressed in black laid siege on the students.
The siege, which all together lasted more than
3 hours, left an impact on Mexico that will
endure ages. At the end of the siege, 6 people
were left dead including a 15-year-old boy, a
bus driver and a woman in a taxi.
Many of the students who filled three buses
were able to escape, scattering throughout the
neighbourhood. However 43 of the students
from that fateful day are still missing today.
43 students whose disappearance has sparked
mass mobilizations throughout Mexico
supported by activities around the world
demanding, “They were taken alive, we want
them back alive!”
In the year that has passed since the atrocity,
blame for the crimes of September 26
th
have
been spread far and wide. More than 20 Iguala
police officers were arrested with evidence that
they, alongside a local drug cartel
Guerreros
Unidos,
were responsible for the killings and
disappearances.
A federal investigation has claimed that Iguala
mayor, Jos
é
Luis Abarca alongside his wife
María de los Ángeles Pineda were the ones
to blame for giving the orders. A police officer
admitted to the investigators he had heard the
mayor give orders to the police to teach them
a lesson.” This story drags deeper into the dirt
when we learn that the couple is also facing
charges for affiliation with drug cartels.
While reading the story, one thing becomes
apparent: nothing is apparent. No one is taking
the blame and the Federal Government led
by President
Enrique Peña Nieto has offered
nothing but vague plans of bringing
justice to the situation and pointing fingers of
blame at the easiest of targets. A poll taken
during this year by
Parametr
í
a (Mexican
opinion and market analysis poll)
concluded
that 54% of the population in Mexico believes
that the federal government is responsible for
resolving the situation and only 26% believe
that the federal government will actually be
able to resolve it.
As the government attempts to sweep the crisis
under the rug, families still have questions.
No matter where the blame finally falls, if it
ever does happen to fall, the people of Mexico
and especially the families and friends of the
missing are left wondering, “where are our 43
young students?”
The stark reality that the Mexican government
has done nothing to resolve the situation
becomes clear. It is for this reason that people
in Mexico are united in their slogan “Fue el
estado!” or “It was the state!”
The Mexican reality, in history as it is in the
case of the missing 43 students is a reality
of crimes perpetrated by the state against its
people. These 43 Ayotzinapa students were
preceded by hundreds of thousands of missing
and murdered at the hands of the drug cartels
and government of Mexico. All of which
have families and communities that are still
searching for answers.
Protest and dissatisfaction in Mexico have
led to multiple high-level resignations,
plummeting opinions of the government and
President Peña Nieto and widespread unrest.
The government of Mexico backed by the
United States with all of its economic interests
and “free-trade” agreements expanding in
Mexico want to make it clear that they will
not tolerate dissent. That they are preparing
for a future of unrest in Mexico as the living
conditions continue to deteriorate.
With this in mind the case of the 43
missing students becomes such a significant
international issue. The 43 of Ayotzinapa
represent the future of Mexico; youth who are
struggling for a better future. For this reason
the people of Mexico and the families and
friends of the 43 need support internationally.
Around the world, including here in Canada,
solidarity campaigns with the 43 missing
Ayotzinapa students have continued. Global
tours with family members as well as monthly
actions have been ongoing. The job of the
international community is to keep up
pressure on the government of
Mexico and spread the news of
the case of the 43 Ayotzinapa
students far and wide.
Today, one year after the atrocity,
we have not forgotten them. The
struggle for the 43 Ayotzinapa
students represents the future of
all of us. We say today as we said
one year ago: “They were taken
alive, we want them back alive!
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