Mothers and fathers of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared in Iguala will lead protests this week in various parts of the country, ten years after the attack by officials and members of organized crime against their children.
At 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 26, the anniversary date, a march is expected to begin at the Angel of Independence toward the capital’s Zócalo, where the families of the 43 students will make a statement.
At the end of August, after holding their last meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, parents of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students expressed their disappointment at the lack of results in the investigation of the case during this administration.
The students from the ‘Raúl Isidro Burgos’ Rural Teachers’ College in Ayotzinapa were detained and disappeared between the night of September 26 and the early morning of September 27, 2014.
Although the Municipal Police has been held responsible for the arrest and for having links to criminal groups such as ‘Guerreros Unidos’, the families themselves as well as human rights organizations have pointed to the intervention of elements of the Mexican Army in the disappearance of the young men.
President López Obrador has defended the Armed Forces, which has caused tension with the families of the missing students.
The case of the 43 students is one of the major pending issues that López Obrador has left for Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who will lead the Executive in the next six-year term.
Last week, Evelyn Salgado Pineda, governor of Guerrero, announced that a massive awareness campaign will be launched to try to find the whereabouts of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared almost 10 years ago in Iguala.
The president said she had a meeting with the students’ mothers and fathers, to whom she promised to take action to encourage citizens to help.
“I confirm to them that they have the support of the state. All the support and accompaniment of our government is at their disposal,” said Salgado.
“We have agreed on a massive communication campaign, which will include media such as radio, television, newspapers, social media and billboards,” he added.
