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News > Latin America

Ayotzinapa Families Cut Off Talks with the Mexican Government

  • Relatives of missing students from Ayotzinapa during a news conference in Mexico City

    Relatives of missing students from Ayotzinapa during a news conference in Mexico City | Photo: Reuters

Published 15 September 2016
Opinion

The parents of the 43 young Mexicans want the head of the state investigation punished for botching the inquiry.

Relatives of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared are cutting off all dialogue with the Mexican government after the lead investigator resigned for allegedly tampering with evidence—and was then awarded with a promotion.

OPINION:
Honoring Families Seeking Justice for the Disappeared

Thomas Zeron de Lucio was the former director of criminal investigations responsible for overseeing the Ayotzinapa case. He resigned Wednesday but Ayotzinapa relatives accuse President Enrique Peña Nieto of rewarding Zeron with a higher paying position as technical secretary of the National Security Council. That comes after a new independent study debunked the government narrative on the disappearance of the students in Guerrero.

"Enough, no more lies or simulations,” Felipe de la Cruz, spokesperson for the families, said during a press conference on Thursday in Mexico City. “That's the requirement. Until it is completed—until Thomas Zeron de Lucio is investigated and punished—the parents will not be returning to the talks."

The government’s official version says local police apprehended the students, who had commandeered a bus to travel to a protest, and handed them over to a gang known as Guerreros Unidos.

RELATED:
New Study Debunks Mexico's Line on Ayotzinapa Students, Again

"It is outrageous that after having an open investigation he is rewarded with a higher charge. It's nothing but a joke to the 43 parents—a mockery to all Mexicans," said Mario Gonzalez, whose son is one of the missing students.

Authorities claim the gang killed the students and burned their bodies in a garbage dump nearly 20 miles south of the town of Iguala, and that the remains were later dumped in the San Juan River near the town of Cocula.

Forensic evidence, fire investigations, and satellite images, however, have repeatedly cast doubt on the government’s claims.

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