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Iguala mass kidnapping

Iguala mass kidnapping
Part of the Mexican drug war
Poster issued by the government of Guerrero
LocationIguala, Guerrero, Mexico
Coordinates17°33′13″N 99°24′37″W / 17.55361°N 99.41028°W / 17.55361; -99.41028
DateSeptember 26, 2014 (2014-09-26)
21:30 – 00:00 (Central Standard Time)
Attack type
Deaths
  • 6 (shootout)
  • 3 (human remains identified)
Injured25
Victims40 (disappeared)
PerpetratorsGuerreros Unidos, Iguala and Cocula policemen, Mexican Federal Police (alleged), Mexican Army (alleged)
MotiveUnknown

On September 26, 2014, forty-three male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College disappeared after being forcibly abducted in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, in what has been called one of Mexico’s most infamous human rights cases.[1] They were allegedly taken into custody by local police officers from Iguala and Cocula in collusion with organised crime, with later evidence implicating the Mexican Army.[2] Officials have concluded there is no indication the students are alive,[3] but as of 2024, only three students' remains have been identified and their deaths confirmed.

While tens of thousands have gone missing during the Mexican drug war, the 43 missing have become a cause célèbre due to the persistent activism and demands for an explanation by their parents and relatives. Official obstacles put in the way of independent investigations of the case[4] have also provoked social unrest and international protests including protests leading to the resignation of the governor of Guerrero.[A 1]

Before their disappearance, the students were preparing to commemorate the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, following a tradition where they commandeered several buses to travel to Mexico City. The police set up roadblocks and fired weapons to intercept the students,[5] but what happened during and after the stopping of their buses remains unclear. Among the many explanations for the students' disappearance include that the buses hijacked by the students contained drug cartel products or that a rival cartel had infiltrated the student group.[6]

There have been several investigative efforts to uncover what happened. An early investigation - dubbed "the historic truth" - under Mexican Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam of the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto, concluded corrupt municipal police from Iguala and neighboring towns, following orders from the local mayor, had turned 43 of the students over to the local drug cartel, Guerreros Unidos ("United Warriors"), who killed the students and destroyed their remains, and that Federal police and military played no part in the killings. This was disputed by some experts, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), who found the findings "scientifically impossible". Another investigation (by journalist Anabel Hernández) alleged that the commandeered buses were transporting heroin, without the students' knowledge, and the Mexican Army intercepted the drugs on behalf of the traffickers - the students being killed to eliminate witnesses.[7][8][9] There are also reports of military personnel monitoring the students' situation but refraining from helping them.[10][9]

After President Andrés Manuel López Obrador came to office in 2018, he announced that a "truth commission" would lead a new investigation[11] regardless of where the investigation led.[4] The investigation led to the arrest of a dozen soldiers and a former attorney general, but the army and navy continued to hide information,[4] and on 21 February 2024 parents of missing students announced they would cease dialogue with the commission.[12]

Among those incarcerated in connection for the crime as of early 2024 are the leader of the United Warriors cartel José Ángel Casarrubias Salgado, known as "El Mochomo", (sentenced to life in prison in the U.S),[13] and former federal attorney general Jesús Murillo Karam (under house arrest in Mexico City as of early 2024).[14]

  1. ^ "WORLD NEWS A student from Mexican teachers' college where 43 disappeared dies in a confrontation with police". AP News. March 8, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Mexican president confirms witness implicated soldiers in kidnapping of 43 college students". www.nbcnews.com. Reuters. January 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference knock down door-AJ-6-3-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c "Mexico's missing students case: Investigators recount challenges of probe. Members of the Ayotzinapa investigation team say they were stonewalled by law enforcement, military authorities for years". AlJazeera. August 2, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  5. ^ McGahan, Jason (October 8, 2014). "Anatomy of a Mexican Student Massacre". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  6. ^ Guillermoprieto, Alma (March 4, 2024). "Letter from Mexico Forty-three Mexican Students Went Missing. What Really Happened to Them?". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 10, 2024. It remains unclear why the Guerreros Unidos would attack a hundred unarmed students. Perhaps, as the giei believed, one of the three buses the students took from the station was loaded with product. Another theory—there are many—holds that the G.U. was convinced the Ayotzis had been infiltrated by the Rojos, and there is some evidence to support that this was their motivation. The G.U. had been fighting with the Rojos the week before, and perhaps it expected an attack.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference proceso-oficial was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ What Happened To Mexico's Missing 43 Students In 'A Massacre In Mexico' Archived November 29, 2020, at the Wayback Machine on NPR
  9. ^ a b "Testimonio: sobreviviente de la masacre a estudiantes de Ayotzinapa". Vanguardia.com.mx. October 12, 2014. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  10. ^ "Militares del 27 Batallón interceptan y amenazan a normalistas de Teloloapan – Proceso". Proceso.com.mx. November 19, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  11. ^ "Mexico's new president forms truth commission on missing students". Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rocha-AR-stop-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "United States Court of Appeals" (PDF).
  14. ^ Torres, Mauricio (April 13, 2024). "El exprocurador Jesús Murillo Karam, acusado en el caso Ayotzinapa, cumple prisión domiciliaria" (in Spanish). CNN. Retrieved April 27, 2024.


Cite error: There are <ref group=A> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=A}} template (see the help page).


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الاختطاف الجماعي بإجوالا (2014) Arabic Desapaición forzada d'Iguala de 2014 AST İquala kütləvi adam oğurluğu AZ Massacre d'Iguala Catalan Masový únos v Iguale Czech Massenentführung in Iguala 2014 German Desaparición forzada de Iguala de 2014 Spanish Igualako bahiketa masiboa (2014) EU Igualan opiskelijasieppaus Finnish Enlèvements d'Iguala French

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