Mexico City, Mexico – The parents of 43 students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College who disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero in 2014, allegedly by security forces and a local drug gang, descended on Mexico City for an annual march to demand justice for their children .
Ten years later, the disappearance has become one of the most emblematic cases of human rights violations in a country that has been riddled with them for decades. Despite the government admitting in 2022 that the disappearance was a state crime, no senior military or government official has been convicted in connection with the case.
Parents returned to the capital on September 23 to denounce impunity and what they – as well as independent investigators – call obstruction by the government of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who campaigned for justice for the families of the students. disappeared.
Read more: Investigation into 43 missing Mexico students ends, commission accuses government of stonewalling
“No one imagined that those events would go unpunished,” said Isidoro Vicario, a lawyer for the Ayotzinapa families. “No one understood that the aggression during which the students disappeared was orchestrated by various police and military forces, not only by organized crime in the city of Iguala. Now, a decade later, we can affirm that the Ayotzinapa case is indeed a state crime.”
Ahead of a march planned for September 26, the parents were welcomed Monday by the indigenous Otomí people at Casa de los Pueblos Samir Flores Soberanes in Mexico City. The center is named after Samir Flores, an indigenous leader and land defender who was killed in February 2019, and acts as a meeting place for rights defenders.
Aztec reports attended the meeting of parents and supporters. Below are some of their messages, edited for length and clarity.
Joaquina García VelázquezThe mother of Martín Getsemany Sánchez García
“We are in the same place as the first day, not knowing what happened to our children and where they are. Our struggle has been going on for 10 years now, full of suffering and pain because we don’t have our children. We are not the only ones who suffer; there are thousands and thousands of missing people all over the country.”
“But we as mothers will continue this fight until we find out where our children are or what happened to them. No matter who comes, we will continue to fight until we get the truth.”
Blanca NavaThe mother of Jorge Alvarez Nava
“Ten years seems easy, but only God knows what we have been through. As mothers, we will not stop fighting for the truth, to find them.”
“And that’s why I always told the government that it wasn’t the criminals; the criminals are the police, because they took them. Just as they were taken alive, so we want them back—to end this suffering and pain, to tell us the truth. 10 years have passed. We have not stopped; we haven’t had a peaceful night because we always think about them. There are no words to express it. As a mother, it is a great pain to have your child taken from you. I love my son and I want him back.”
Mario Abarca Carrillo, brother of Luis Ángel Abarca Carrillo
“I am the brother of one of the 43. His name is Luis Ángel Abarca Carrillo and the truth is that since he disappeared since he left Costa Chica, we have been waiting for him because the whole family is still waiting for him. Why? Because we hold the hope that they will return to their homes.”
“For them, the army is inviolable. But we all know that the government has had direct involvement through the police, the army and the municipal police. They took young people and disappeared them by collaborating with organized crime. The truth is, to fight for 10 years and to be present here, my respect to my parents because it is an incredible pain.”
Francisco Lauro VillegasFather of Magdaleno Rubén Lauro Villegas
“When Andrés Manuel López Obrador started his campaign, he said: ‘Nice to meet you, parents. I will help you.’ As parents, we felt very happy that we would finally learn the truth about our children. He lied to us like we were little children. It’s been almost three days until we turn 10 years without knowing the truth. But we as parents are not tired of marching and protesting.
The march will take place, as it does every year, on September 26, the date the 43 students were forcibly taken and disappeared, along Reforma Avenue, Mexico City’s main thoroughfare, where the iconic Independence Monument stands – a golden angel overlooking the heart of the city.
