Law and Order in Mexico

[cbayer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/opinion/murder-in-mexico.html?_r=0

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
NOV. 11, 2014

The disappearance, and presumed murder, of 43 college students six weeks ago has brought parts of Mexico to a tense point. On Monday, thousands of protesters blocked access to the airport in Acapulco, and last week tens of thousands more filled the streets of Mexico City.

They are understandably outraged at a government that has failed to provide security, respect the rule of law, hold criminals accountable and ensure justice for victims and their families. In short, when gang members, security forces and others kill, they know there is a good chance they can get away with it.

The 43 students from a rural teachers college disappeared on Sept. 26 in Iguala, 120 miles south of Mexico City. They had traveled there to collect money and steal buses for transportation to a demonstration. According to authorities, the town’s mayor feared the students would disrupt a speech by his wife, so he told the police to stop them. The police ambushed them, engaged in a shootout that left six people dead, and then turned the students over to members of a drug gang who killed them, burned their bodies and erased much of the evidence.

Although the attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, announced on Friday that authorities had arrested at least 72 people, including the mayor and his wife, questions remain, including whether some students may still be alive. The government has said it will send some incinerated remains to a lab in Austria for identification. There may have been more to work with if the federal authorities had not delayed in taking over the investigation.

more at link

[Judi Lynn]

1. Could Student Massacre Be 'Watershed Moment' for Mexico?

Published on Wednesday, November 12, 2014
by Common Dreams

Could Student Massacre Be 'Watershed Moment' for Mexico?

In southern state of Guerrero, where student-teachers disappeared, demonstrators set fire to governing party headquarters amid ongoing protests

by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer

Protesters furious at the alleged massacre of 43 Mexican student-teachers, and the government corruption the incident represents, marched in the southern state of Guerrero and set fire to the ruling party's regional headquarters on Tuesday.

The demonstration in Guerrero's capital city of Chilpancingo followed another sizable rally in front of Acapulco's international airport on Monday evening, that one led by parents of the students who gang suspects—in league with corrupt police and government officials—confessed to murdering last week. The students, who had been missing since September 26, were allegedly executed and incinerated by members of the Guerreros Unidos drug gang; their remains have been sent to Austria for possible DNA identification.

According to Deutsche Welle, "About 200 riot police wearing helmets and bearing shields chased more than 1,000 protesters as black smoke billowed from the two-story headquarters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the Guerrero state capital, Chilpancingo. Tuesday's protests and the police response have left at least three people injured so far, including two journalists."

The alleged killing of the students has ignited massive protests across the country. Some have accused the government of mishandling the case and trying to shut down further investigation. Many are critical of President Enrique Pena Nieto's decision to travel to China for the APEC summit amidst such turmoil. And the entire episode has exposed one of the country's terrible realities: since 2006, 70,000 Mexicans have been killed and some 27,000 "disappeared" as a result of the ongoing narco war.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/12/could-student-massacre-be-watershed-moment-mexico

[cbayer]

2. Thanks for adding this.

I read it earlier and it is a really good analysis.

"Forum" on NPR had this as the subject of their 1st thirty minutes this am. Really good discussion.