Eleven years after 43 students from Ayotzinapa teacher training college disappeared, relatives and supporters returned to the streets of Mexico City on Friday, demanding truth and justice in a case that remains one of the country’s darkest human rights scandals.
The students, known for their political activism, were last seen on September 26, 2014, after they commandeered buses to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City. Investigators believe they were kidnapped by a drug cartel in collusion with corrupt police, but what happened next remains shrouded in mystery.
So far, only the remains of three students have been identified. The whereabouts of the rest remain unknown, leaving families trapped in years of uncertainty.
“We are back where we started,” said Delfina de la Cruz, whose son was among the missing. “I want to see my son, know what happened, where he is, if he is no longer there.”
Anger at authorities
At the anniversary march, demonstrators carried banners condemning both former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his successor Claudia Sheinbaum for failing to resolve the case.
“We had hoped that it would be solved, but nothing has happened,” said Jesús Gumaro, a retired university professor.
Despite dozens of arrests — including a former attorney general and several military personnel — no convictions have been secured. Families accuse the army of withholding crucial information.
On Thursday, protesters rammed a truck into the gates of a military barracks in Mexico City, venting anger at what they see as the military’s role in the disappearances. The incident caused no injuries, and the compound remained secure.
A national wound
The Ayotzinapa case has become symbolic of Mexico’s broader missing persons crisis, with more than 120,000 people still unaccounted for and over 450,000 killed since 2006 in drug-related violence.
The Peña Nieto government’s 2015 “historical truth” — that the students were killed, burned, and dumped in a river — was discredited internationally. A 2022 truth commission later described the episode as a “state crime”, saying the military either directly participated or failed to act despite having real-time intelligence on the abductions.
For families, each anniversary march is a reminder of unanswered questions. “We just want to know the truth,” de la Cruz said.
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