Independent Investigation Rejects
Account Given by Mexican Government
By Peter Gabriel Laboy
(Image: NYTimes)
Last fall, Mexico was stunned by the mysterious
disappearance of forty-three students from the city of
Iguala, who were reportedly studying to become teachers at a college with a history of radical left activism,
the BBC reported. The group was trying to obtain
funds for an upcoming protest march when Iguala’s police force opened fire on buses the students were traveling in. The ensuing violence ended in the death of
three students, while forty-three students were allegedly taken by authorities. In response, many took to the
streets to demand justice for the students and the end
of police corruption and state involvement in organized
crime. It is widely known that the rule of law in Mexico
is dubious at best and state authorities are able to act
with impunity. With this in mind, citizens of Mexico
were quite skeptical when, four months after the abductions took place, the Mexican government declared
that they had solved the case and that the missing students were dead. The government alleged that the
mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca (who has since been
arrested), ordered police to detain the students and
then handed them over to allies of his, a drug gang
known as Guerreros Unidos. The students were allegedly taken to a garbage dump, killed and then cremated.
The Mexican people’s skepticism seems to
have been well founded, as inconsistencies appear
throughout the Mexican Government’s findings. An independent investigation into the disappearance discredited the government’s findings and insists that
there is no evidence to suggest that the students were
killed by a drug gang and burned at the garbage
dump. Relatives of the victims have accused the government of trying to cover up the involvement of “highprofile officials” and continue to probe for answers.
“We ask the Mexican authorities to clarify the
disappearance of the students and to make a general
reassessment of the entire investigation,” said Carlos
Beristain, one of the members of the independent investigation.
About 25,000 people have gone missing in
Mexico since 2006, according to estimates by the government and human rights groups. It is unclear how
many of the disappearances are directly related to
state security forces and yet each disappearance is a
reminder of the impunity which state security forces
are afforded. President Nieto, just coming off of a housing scandal of his own, faces an uphill battle in combating the lawlessness found throughout the country. The
first step: repair the trust between the Mexican people
and the government that claims to defend it.
OCTOBER 2015
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