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Tensions have been heating up in Mexico this week both in the streets and in congress, days ahead of the one year anniversary of the infamous disappearances of the 43 Ayotzinapa students. The case has shaken the country over the past year, is rife with controversies and contradictions and is still far from being resolved.
RELATED: Timeline – One Year Since Ayotzinapa Students' Disappearance
In an attempt to address the looming case – which has now garnered international attention and condemnation – lawmakers in the Senate discussed Tuesday what the next steps should be.
However, the session was cut short after the politicians were unable to agree on whether to appoint an international commission or a national prosecutor to further the investigations. The session was suspended after squabbles between political parties took over the floor for over half an hour, dividing the room.
Three of the opposition parties – the right-wing National Action Party (PAN), the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) and the Workers' Party (PT) – proposed that an international commission be appointed to further investigate the disappearances.
The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which has been highly implicated in the crime by international investigators, has refused the opposition's proposal insisting that a national prosecutor be assigned the task.
The Senate debate comes after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a damning report criticizing the PRI government and their handling of the investigation. The report said officials did not follow through on obvious lines of investigation and disputes the attorney general's version of events, saying there is “no evidence” to support the claims put forth by the Mexican government.
In the meantime, parents and relatives of the 43 victims are preparing to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto Thursday, to confront the president head on about the investigation.
Mexico's Ministry of the Interior released four vague points that are expected to be discussed at the meeting, including, “the search, the investigation … attention to the victims and public policy.”
The parents, who have been protesting this past year and demanding justice for their children, requested that “Peña Nieto come and look us in the face before this month is done.”
“It is his duty as a public servant to hear the demands of the people,” said Felipe de la Cruz, spokesman for the Ayotzinapa parents, at a press conference earlier this month.
RELATED: Justice for Ayotzinapa
Protests have also started to heat up across the country, particularly in the southern state of Guerrero, where the students went missing in the town of Iguala Sept. 26, 2014.
Tuesday morning, protesters encountered riot police on the highway as they were traveling to the city of Chilpancingo in the neighboring state. The protesters intend to travel to different cities to raise awareness of the Ayotzinapa disappearances, before making their way to Mexico City for a major demonstration in the capital.
However, upon learning that the protesters were planning to enter the capital, Mexican officials planted extra troops at various points along the Tixtla-Chilpancingo highway, what they call “security filters,” in an effort to block their way.
Some 50 state troopers stopped the protesters and their 12 bus caravan, Tuesday, while tensions quickly rose after police requested to search their vehicles, but the protesters refused. This triggered a confrontation that lasted at least an hour, as police threw tear gas and smoke bombs and protesters allegedly lit a trailer on fire.
The confrontation ended with four police officers being kidnapped, although they were released soon afterward, according to local media reports. No serious injuries were reported.
RELATED: teleSUR’s Imaginary Lines: Ayotzinapa – Mexican Government Coverup?
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