What Happened To The 43?

    

Poster of missing students. Says,
"They took them alive, bring them
back alive." Source.

     Ayotzinapa School is located in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. They accepted people who were sons of farmers or lived in great poverty. They taught them to not let the government push them around, to stand up for themselves, and their community, and to always speak the truth. On September 26, 2014, 43 male students went missing, and 6 were killed on their way to a protest. They were intercepted by the local police and taken to an unknown location. The motive as to why they were taken is still unclear.
     There were many people who protested in Mexico and all around the world. The protests started out peacefully, but quickly became violent due to no results. On October 20, 2014, some masked protestors set fire to Guerrero Cumple, an office of a state social assistance program in Chilpancingo. The next day they set fire to the regional office of the Party of the Democratic Revolution in Chilpancingo which controls the state government.   

Protestors in Acapulco, Guerrero,
Mexico. Source. 

Many of the residents of Iguala were angered and frustrated with the government and wanted to find their children. They were frustrated with the local government because they didn't do much to find the 43 missing students. It is believed that Jose Luis Abarcas' and his wife, Maria De Los Angeles Pinada, ordered the attack on the group of students. A few days later they fled Guerrero along with Iguala's police chief. The authorities only arrested some local police officers that were supposedly connected to the attack. After much time of the authorities doing nothing to find the students, the citizens of Iguala made their own search parties, hired a private anthropologist team, and even went to meet with the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto. He signed a document that promised he would do everything in his power to find the missing students alive and bring the attackers to justice. Therefore he assigned a search team and a forensic team to locate the missing students.


Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico.
Source.

     It is still unclear as to why the students were attacked. Some may say it is because of their different political beliefs. At Ayotzinapa School, students were taught to stand up for themselves, speak the truth, and rise against power.