- Title: Mexico marks seven year anniversary of suspected student massacre
- Date: 27th September 2021
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (SEPTEMBER 26, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE MARCHING ON SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF DISAPPEARANCE OF MISSING STUDENTS FAMILY OF MISSING STUDENTS MARCHING WITH BANNERS FEATURING PHOTOS OF MISSING PEOPLE CHANTING AT PROTEST FAMILY OF MISSING STUDENTS MARCHING WITH BANNERS FEATURING PHOTOS OF MISSING LARGE BANNER WITH MESSAGE THAT READS (English): "Alive they were taken, alive is how we want them" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF MISSING STUDENT, BLANCA LUZ NAVA VELA, SAYING: "We haven't lost faith as mothers. We have faith that our children will be found, but we aren't the same as when we started this fight. More of us are sick, other parents have passed on. This is all suffering for us as mothers. They say seven years have gone by, but it is a torment that we go through, with a heart that has been destroyed." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS GATHERING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LAWYER FOR FAMILIES OF MISSING, VIDULFO ROSALES, SAYING: "I see them (family of missing students) as desperate, three years with this government, and whilst there have been significant results it has been very slow. There's still a lot to do. There still hasn't been a clarification of what happened on the 26th and 27th. And regarding some institutions we don't see the pace that a case of forced disappearances warrants." PROTESTERS MARCHING BANNER AT PROTEST THAT READS: (Spanish) "Seven years without justice" POLICE OFFICERS WALKING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS SPRAYING GRAFFITI WITH MESSAGES LINKED TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE STUDENTS
- Embargoed: 11th October 2021 02:50
- Keywords: Mexico anniversary march missing students protest suspected massacre
- Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,South America / Central America
- Reuters ID: LVA001EWHUZIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Demonstrators marched in Mexico City on Sunday (September 26) to mark the seven-year anniversary of the disappearance of 43 student teachers.
The students went missing in the southwestern city of Iguala in 2014.
The government said they were kidnapped by corrupt police in cahoots with a local drug gang.
So far only the remains of two of the 43 have been definitively identified.
Seven years on, desperate family members want answers into the whereabouts of their loved ones.
A panel of international experts have picked holes in the official version of events surrounding the disappearance, deepening anger over the scandal that stained the reputation of the former government.
Current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged to clear up the case when he ran for office in 2018, but family members accuse authorities of acting too slow.
Last week, officials reported Mexico sent a letter to Israel's government urging it to facilitate the extradition of a former Mexican official in charge of a controversial investigation into the disappearance of the students.
Tomas Zeron, former head of Mexico's criminal investigation agency, has since last year been in Israel, where he went to evade a probe into his handling of the investigation into the disappearances, according to Mexican government officials.
Mexican authorities and relatives of the missing youths have accused Zeron of planting evidence to support the previous administration's version of what happened to the 43 students after their abduction on the night of September 26, 2014.
Zeron, who could not be reached for comment, has previously denied that allegation.
Israel's embassy in Mexico was not available for comment.
(Production: Roberto Ramirez, Rodolfo Pena Roja, Paul Vieira) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None