Where are the missing students, Mr. President?

It all began on the night of the 26th of September, 2014 in Ayotzinapa, Mexico. 43 Mexican students were traveling from the city of Iguala to Ayotzinapa to protest against discriminatory injustices in institutions towards teachers and students, and to commemorate the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre. While close to their destination, the students were confronted by the police. Their voices were not heard, their actions were not seen. Fire guns took over the sky on that night. An eerie feeling took control of the city of Ayotzinapa when the police made the decision to attack the students. It started from the voices of students trying to defend themselves and turned into complete silence when the policeman fired their weapons and violently arrested them. Their reason behind their atrocious actions was that the buses the students were traveling on were stolen vehicles, thus, “arrest” was the solution. But it is not arrest when you end up taking away the lives of 43 students, 43 human beings.

Survivors of this massacre testify that the police knew all the truth behind the mysterious buses. The drivers were told to take the students to drugdealers to become hostages. But, for why? After almost five years, people still wonder how 43 students went missing for so long until their “bodies” were found. Police stood by their side of the story for so long: “corrupted policeman arrested them.” Some people say only the organized crime was involved since the students were supposedly turned to Guerreros Unidos, a drug cartel that used violence to assassinate and incinerate each one of the 43 students. However, most Mexicans still stand by the fact that the government was involved too. But the government took too long to provide an answer, if they even provided one. “We will continue to investigate the reasons behind the disappearance of the students”, that is what former President, Enrique Peña Nieto would say all the time in his defense.

The United Nations issued a statement saying that the massacre in Ayotzinapa questions the capacity of the Mexican government to tackle the infringements towards the human rights of the Mexican population. “Mexican authorities should guarantee the search of the truth and the justice for this case. They should take any appropriate legal action towards the responsible people for the torture of the students and infringement of human rights during the investigation of the case,” said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2014 to 2018. The UN offered their condolences to the families of the students who were waiting for answers and went looking for them during the period of three years.

The details of what happened during and after the assault still remain unclear. In 2015, there was a conducted investigation by a panel of experts assembled by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. They came to the conclusion that the government’s claim about involving the organized crime in the killing of the students and leaving them in a garbage dump because they were “mistaken” for members of a drug cartel is simply “impossible” to believe due to the setting’s conditions. Some people say that Iguala’s mayor, José Luis Abarca, a member of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), and his wife, “masterminded” the abduction, but none of them were ever put on trial for the disappearance.

Although many stories have been spread around the entire country since 2014, people still wonder what really happened with the missing students and who were responsible for that. Parents, teachers, students, and everyone still questions why the President didn’t act accordingly and wasn’t able to follow a thorough investigation. “Mr. President, we demand an answer, we deserve an answer, what happened with the 43 missing students?” This question came out of the mouths of many people who were fighting for answers. This kidnapping has caused international protests and social unrest around the Mexican territories.

This disappearance arguably became one of the biggest political and public security scandal that former Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto ever faced during his administration. Mexicans took over the country by protesting against the injustices from the government and their need for an answer. This massacre undoubtedly led to international condemnation. There is nothing to do in terms of the corruption involved. It is heartbreaking to have in history the massacre of 43 innocent students who didn’t know their lives were going to be taken away when they decided to hop on the buses on that night.