The disappearance of 43 students from a teacher’s college in the small town of Ayotzinapa, Mexico this September has sparked outrage in Mexico and across the globe. Furthermore, this case has exposed the crime and corruption still underpinning Mexico’s political and law enforcement institutions. The students were traveling to participate in a day of “action”: They were to block a highway to solicit travel funds for an annual march in Mexico City, a tribute to a 1968 massacre of student protestors. While passing through the small city of Iguala, the students were intercepted by police allegedly ordered by local mayor José Luis Abarca. As his wife was due to give a speech that night, Abarca sought to prevent their obstructive activities. The police killed 6 of the students alongside the 43 were taken into custody then “disappeared”.
This week, suspected members of the narco-trafficking gang Guerreros Unidos confessed to the murder of the remaining 43, claiming that the students were handed over to them by the police. Abarca’s wife and her brothers have been reported as part of the gang’s top leadership and had allowed the group to infiltrate Iguala’s police department.
For many, the murder confession is a harrowing conclusion to the six-week-old mystery. However, some relatives of the missing students remain skeptical, arguing that the announcement is a government ploy to close the investigation without definitive evidence.
Fueling the skepticism is the fact that the abductions have become a major political crisis for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s young two-year government. Previously praised for his progressive economic reforms, Peña Nieto came under heavy criticism for his government’s inability to find the students despite claims that the case was their number one priority. Mexicans took to the streets almost daily calling for the President’s resignation. In contrast to Peña Nieto’s slogan of “Mexico on the Move,” the case of the missing students recalls an antiquated Mexico, in which local officials are corrupt and deeply integrated with organized crime. Despite some hints of progress, lack of transparency and corruption still permeate Mexico’s government.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29944584
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29963387
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/07/world/americas/mexico-missing-students/index.html?hpt=ila_c1
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/11/mayor-accused-of-disappearing-students-in-mexico-has-been-caught/382345/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2014/11/03/abduction-of-43-students-exposes-mexicos-narco-corruption-2/2/
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/crisis-mexico-disappearance-forty-three
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