A month ago, LatinTRENDS reported on the disappearance of 43 student-teachers who vanished back on September 26th after police and alleged gang members broke up a demonstration they were participating in. According to witness accounts and news reports, the students were said to have been carried off by both law enforcement and drug cartel gang members.
But now it appears that what were rumors is in fact true.
The 43 missing student-teachers are now believed to be the burnt remains discovered in the Mexican suburbs of Iguala. Seeing their deaths as just another case of senseless murders and a government lacking to do anything, students and civilians alike came out in protest against the Mexican government in hopes of stirring a change and bringing an end to the violence.
On Saturday, protestors took to the streets of Mexico City denouncing the massacre of the 43 student-teachers and unleash their unrest with their government. The protest started of peacefully fully with chants for justice for the deceased students, but soon became impassioned when a group broke off and ignited torches.
While protesting in Mexico City, the protestors carrying torches decided to set fire to the wooden doors of the ceremonial palace located in the city. Meanwhile, protestors who stood outside of the state government headquarters of Guerrero decided to unleash their anger by setting fire nearby cars. Within Guerrero itself there have been various protests against the government and its handling of the disappearance of the students since the September incident.
Saturday’s protest came after a comment made by Mexico’s Attorney General Jesus Murillo which incensed the people to demand more of their country when it comes to dealing with the drug cartels.
The protest was the result of a press conference day before the protest when Murillo announced that the burnt remains uncovered could be the students. After speaking to the media for some time—and appearing distressed—Murillo muttered, “Ya me canse,” and merely walked away without saying another word.
So what exactly did Murillo means? Well, it is an expression which means: I’ve had enough or I’m tired.
Spreading Murillo’s comment throughout the social sphere of Facebook and Twitter alike, and have turned it into their own rallying cry of “Enough of Fear!”
While Murillo is drawing in his own reserved attention for his comment, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is also drawing in his own kind of attention. Despite coming into office two years ago on a vow to the Mexican people to restore order within the country, under President Nieto’s administration there has been an estimated 100,000 people who have died in-relation to violence connected to the drug cartel.
The students who disappeared on September 26th are said to have been taken away by law enforcement and drug cartel gang members on the orders of the Mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca has been heavily linked to the students’ disappearance and death. According to news reports, Mayor Abarca has well-known connections to drug-traffickers due to his wife Maria de los Angeles Pineda, having three brothers who are heavily involved with the drug world. The mayor and his wife disappeared after the students’ disappearance hit the airwaves, but the pair was later arrested by authorities.
With the mayor and his wife in custody, with families of the 43 students’ in mourning, and country and its people feeling unsafe in their own country due to a government that appears to be doing nothing in the matter of the rising drug cartel and its violence it is not shocking students and civilians alike are protesting. On Saturday’s protest two people were injured, and that’s one too many counting how many have been harmed since the drug wars started. Let’s hope something is resolved before more lives are taken.
Here are the names of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa:
Abel García Hernández
Abelardo Vázquez Periten
Adán Abrajan de la Cruz
Alexander Mora Venancio
Antonio Santana Maestro
Benjamín Ascencio Bautista
Carlos Iván Ramírez Villarreal
Carlos Lorenzo Hernández Muñoz
César Manuel González Hernández
Christian Alfonso Rodríguez Telumbre
Christian Tomás Colón Garnica
Cutberto Ortiz Ramos
Dorian González Parral
Emiliano Alen Gaspar de la Cruz
Everardo Rodríguez Bello
Felipe Arnulfo Rosas
Giovanni Galindes Guerrero
Israel Caballero Sánchez
Israel Jacinto Lugardo
Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempa
Jonás Trujillo González
Jorge Álvarez Nava
Jorge Aníbal Cruz Mendoza
Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño
Jorge Luis González Parral
José Ángel Campos Cantor
José Ángel Navarrete González
José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa
José Luis Luna Torres
Joshvani Guerrero de la Cruz
Julio César López Patolzin
Julio César Ramírez Nava
Leonel Castro Abarca
Luis Ángel Abarca Carrillo
Luis Ángel Francisco Arzola
Magdaleno Rubén Lauro Villegas
Marcial Pablo Baranda
Marco Antonio Gómez Molina
Martín Getsemany Sánchez García
Mauricio Ortega Valerio
Miguel Ángel Hernández Martínez
Miguel Ángel Mendoza Zacarías
Saúl Bruno García.
“Enough of Fear!”
