Less than 72 hours had passed since his government was established when the Presidency of López Obrador took action in the Ayotzinapa case. In the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) Its first decree was published, instructing the establishment of “effective material, legal and human conditions to strengthen the human rights of the relatives of the victims of the Ayotzinapa case to the truth and access to justice” and whose objective was to create the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice in the Ayotzinapa Case (CoVAJ-Ayotzinapa).
That was not the only measure taken by AMLO’s government. The so-called “historical truth” was thrown to the ground and a new line of investigation was established, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) returned, a Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Ayotzinapa case was created and the president led frequent meetings with the parents and lawyers of the students, to whom he invited the Attorney General of the Republic, Alejandro Gertz Manero.
The president’s first steps generated hope among parents, who gave him a vote of confidence.
(Photo: Cuartoscuro.)
Down with the “historical truth”
During the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the so-called “historical truth” was spread, the version of which was that members of the criminal organization “Guerreros Unidos” murdered and incinerated the students in the Cocula garbage dump because they were allegedly members of an opposing group, called “Los Rojos.”
At the forefront of the investigation, Alejandro Encinas He claimed that this “historical truth” was constructed by the federal government of Enrique Peña Nieto to cover up what really happened to the young people in Iguala.
Agreed Encinas, Ayotzinapa was a state crime which involved officials from all three levels of government who concealed the truth. He revealed that It was at a meeting of authorities where the so-called “historical truth” was created.
“They were headed by the then Attorney General of the Republic and included state authorities, the governor himself, the former Attorney General, military authorities and various federal corporations such as the federal preventive police like Cisen,” Encinas said at the time.
That board of authorities was also mentioned in a questionnaire answered by Tomás Zerón, former head of the Criminal Investigation Agency, from Israel, and in which He accused former President Enrique Peña Nieto of participating in them.
“During the sessions of the security cabinet, held in the Los Pinos Office of the President of the Republic, in which the President of the Republic and the heads of the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Navy, the National Center for Investigation and National Security, the head of the Office of the President of the Republic and the spokesperson for the Presidency participated, they made the decision and instructed the Attorney General of the Republic to use the information available to report on the fate of the students in accordance with the statements and evidence presented by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office up to that point,” Zeron declared.
No evidence of young people
In September 2023, the president assured that there was no evidence to indicate that the young people were alive.
“We also have to say it very clearly that There is no evidence that allows us to assume that the students are alive. and that, on the contrary, all the statements, testimonies and evidence indicate that they were cunningly killed and disappeared,” he said when presenting the Commission’s second report.
Despite this, until now Only the remains of three students have been identified. normalistas: Alexander Mora Venancio, Christian Rodriguez Telumbre and Jhosivani Guerrero de la Cruz.
The Army, the reason for the breakup
As the months and years passed, the relationship between the president and the parents of the 43 became complicated.
In a matter of months, there were fewer meetings and dialogue with the president; arrests of military personnel, the departure of the GIEI considering that there was Army obstacles to advancing the investigation and finally the resignation of prosecutor Omar Gómez Trejo after it was announced that in August the FGR canceled 21 of the 83 arrest warrants against people linked to the disappearance of the normalistas, of which 16 were military personnel.
And later Alejandro Encinas’ departure from the Ayotzinapa case amid tensions over accusations against military personnel.
In the face of the facts, The parents of the 43 accused the president of betraying them because he preferred to defend the Army and break his promise that the truth would be reached.
“There is palpable evidence, the evidence presented by independent experts, the lawyers, are testimonies, from the records that independent experts have taken, that there was manipulation by the Army. In other words, there is evidence where we know that the Army participated,” added Clemente Rodríguez, who reproaches the president for having protected the Army.
The president has denied it. He claims that For the Ayotzinapa case, all the military personnel who allegedly participated are in prison.
“There are already 15, 20 soldiers in prison, two generals, so they should be tried and it should be proven that they were responsible. They are already in prison, this had not been done before, but it cannot be said that it was the Army,” he said on September 21, 2023.
In his conference on September 25, He defended the Army again and he assured that although there are those who claim that ‘they are making fun of him’, it is not true.
‘It should be noted that we have had the support of the Armed Forces throughout this investigation.’ The lawyers for the parents and those from Prodh say that the Army commanders do not listen to me and that the Army is in charge, and that even if I have good intentions, I cannot force them to tell the truth. I tell them… I am not sucking my thumb. It is very difficult for them to fool me,” he said.
(Photo: Henry Romero/Reuters)
There was progress… until we came up against the military
The lawyer for the parents of the 43, Vidulfo Rosalesmaintains that there was progress but from 2022 when the investigation touched the Army, there was a decline and today it is in a slump.
“There is despair and anger because the president’s initial promise has not been fulfilled,” Rosales said, days before the 10th anniversary of the attack in Iguala, Guerrero.
From the federal government, the progress that stands out is: the number of prisoners increased from 59 to 120 people, three arrest warrants to be executed against military personnel, exploration of 858 sites in search of the students, as well as offering rewards to those who provide relevant information.
Just a few days ago, the governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado reported the start of a Massive dissemination campaign with spectaculars to try to locate the 43 normalistas, 10 years after their disappearance.
