The disappearance of 43 Mexican students on September 26, 2014 shook Mexican society, exposing government corruption and underscoring the spiral of violence that has already killed thousands. Even after 8 years, it is still unknown what actually happened.
About a half-hour drive from the small, sleepy Mexican town of Cocula, a stinking dump in the hills was once considered the final resting place of 43 Mexican students who went missing while returning from a protest.
Mexican authorities have alleged that members of Guerreros Unidos killed and burned all students, youths, youth at the Ayotzinapa School of Rural Teachers, amid piles of plastic and log debris, after they were kidnapped by corrupt police in the neighboring city. He was handed over to the Iguala and the criminals.
But in 2016, independent investigators denied the government’s theory that students were killed and burned in a dumpster. One of the most glaring lies is in the case that exposed Mexico’s fight against deep-rooted corruption and widespread violence.
Eight years later, the remains of only three students have been identified.
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Now, after years of intense scrutiny and public criticism, a truth commission set up by current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has recast the incident as a “state crime” and a cover-up, involving dozens of gang members, soldiers, local officials and state officials. and federal agencies reaching the highest levels of government in Mexico.
The public continues to protest the failure of two successive governments to reveal the truth about what happened.
On the eighth anniversary of the kidnapping, some of the key players in the case have been arrested, others have disappeared, and officials and family members are still seeking answers.
Jesús Murillo Karam, former attorney general
On August 19 of this year, Jesús Murillo Karam, Mexico’s former attorney general, was arrested in connection with the case.
As attorney general in the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, he opened the original investigation into the students’ disappearances.
Now he is charged with enforced disappearance, torture and obstruction of justice in relation to missing students.
Peña Nieto’s successor, President López Obrador, said Murillo Karam’s role in carrying out illegal arrests after the disappearances was “proof” that he oversaw an extensive cover-up designed to shield the federal government from liability.
Before the court on August 24, Murillo Karam stated that while he was willing to admit some errors in the investigation, no one has yet been able to offer another credible version of what happened to the students.
He is now on trial. Although no date has been set, the judge has decided that he should remain in custody until then.
Tomás Zeron, former head of the Mexican Criminal Investigation Agency
Tomás Zerón, former director of Mexico’s now-defunct Criminal Investigation Agency, has been accused by the government of López Obrador of torturing witnesses in the case. Including a member of Guerreros Unidos? to help support the government’s version.
He is also accused of manipulating evidence. He denies the allegations, saying they are politically motivated.
In 2019, Zerón fled to Canada, and in July 2021, Israeli and Mexican authorities reported that he had gone to Israel and applied for asylum. Since then, Mexico has requested the extradition of Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, which he says is “first priority” for Lopez Obrador’s government. Israeli authorities have so far denied the request.
According to the latest Mexican government report, government officials met with Zerón in February of this year in Tel Aviv to discuss the possibility of Zerón returning to Mexico to respond to the case. He stays in Israel.
José Luis Abarca, former mayor of Iguala
In 2014, the mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca, fled the city with his wife, María de los Angeles Pineda, a few days after the kidnapping. More than a month later, they were arrested in Mexico City. Both remain behind bars, serving sentences for money laundering and organized crime-related crimes.
Despite accusations that he was involved in the students’ disappearance, some family members of the 43 youths defended him publicly, even holding a march in Iguala last month demanding his release.
On September 14, a judge acquitted him of any responsibility for Iguala’s abduction, citing lack of evidence. Separately, he is facing charges related to the murder of two local activists in 2013, in addition to money laundering and organized crime links.
Mexico’s undersecretary of public safety, Ricardo Mejía, promised that the government would appeal the decision. He also rejected any suggestion that the former mayor would be released.
united warriors
The Guerreros Unidos gang, accused of killing students, is still active. He is heavily involved in extortion and kidnappings in Guerrero State and two other Mexican states, according to Mexican authorities. The group is also believed to manufacture and trade heroin from Mexico to the United States. Currently the gang is believed to be allied with the Jalisco Nova Geração Cartel, one of the most powerful in Mexico.
In early August, Mexican authorities announced that 14 unidentified members of the gang were among a larger group of 83 with arrest warrants issued in connection with the disappearance of 43 students. 14 more gang members? as well as three of your family members? Those linked to the case have since died, some in the hands of other criminals or Mexican security forces. Others died of natural causes.
Mexican authorities have also been repeatedly accused of torturing alleged gang members to get confessions. The torture and confessions of the six Guerreros Unidos members are at the center of the Mexican government’s accusations against Murillo Karam.
Another gang member believed to have played a key role in the Iguala incident, Juan Salgado Guzmán, was shot dead by police in September 2021. The latest government report found a series of “irregularities” linked to his death, leading authorities to conclude that Salgado Guzmán was murdered. He was “executed” without provocation, after being wounded and no longer posing a threat to the officers.
mexican army
Much of the mystery surrounding Iguala’s kidnapping revolves around the military’s involvement. Have the authorities confirmed that the military had an informant traveling with Ayotzinapa students on the day of his disappearance? and they said they were aware of the youth’s movements before the attack. Mexican officials said the military did nothing to find the informant, who was still missing.
In addition, the military has been accused by experts of withholding information that could help locate the students. Did the drone footage show Mexican Marines? part of the navy? Don’t play with evidence in the Cocula dump.
On September 15, Mexican authorities announced the arrest of a retired army general, José Rodríguez Pérez, in connection with the kidnapping of Iguala. Did Rodriguez hold the rank of colonel at the time of the incident? and was in charge of a unit stationed in Iguala. Two other soldiers were also arrested.
It is unclear what evidence the government has against Rodriguez. Mexico’s top human rights official, Alejandro Encinas, told reporters that gang members detained six students in an old warehouse and handed them over to the then-colonel, who allegedly ordered them killed and their bodies disposed of.
In total, arrest warrants were recently issued for 20 military personnel, including commanders and soldiers from two different battalions that were in Iguala at the time.
Despite the Mexican government’s promise to hold the military accountable for human rights abuses, many of the issues raised by the initial Iguala investigation seem to have gone unaddressed.
– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63031933.
source: Noticias
