Mexico president meets with relatives of missing students, one month later Family members of 43 missing students say they left Mexico City empty-handed October 30, 2014 7:33AM ET by Renee Lewis Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto met for the first time Wednesday with families of 43 students who went missing over one month ago after clashing with police during a protest in Mexicos Guerrero state. Peña Nieto met with about 120 relatives and representatives of the missing students from Ayotzinapa Normal School — a teachers training college for the rural poor — in a five-hour meeting he said was meant to generate an atmosphere of trust. But the parents dismissed the president’s efforts to find the missing and said their patience was running out. We came away with the same news — that the state is doing everything it can to find them. But we are still empty-handed, said Felipe de la Cruz Sandoval, the father of one of the missing students. Were not going to believe the presidents words and the pledges he made until the 43 students are presented to us alive, one of the fathers, Felipe de la Cruz, told a news conference late on Wednesday after meeting Pena Nieto. Local police in Iguala, in Guerrero state, killed three students and three bystanders during protests on Sept. 26. Days later, dozens of police officers were detained after the leader of Guerreros Unidos, a local drug gang, confessed that police handed over some of the missing students to the group and ordered their executions. Thumbnail image for Classmates of missing Mexico students: ‘We are all like brothers here’ Classmates of missing Mexico students: ‘We are all like brothers here’ One month after 43 students disappeared, schoolmates say government wants to get rid of them and their schools The case has shocked Mexico, with tens of thousands protesting across the country. University students — who have protested the same education reforms as the missing students — have called strikes in solidarity with the missing students. Before meeting the relatives, Peña Nieto made a televised address in which he promised to increase efforts to find the missing youths. There will not be the slightest room for impunity, the president said. We must apply the law whoever it affects. Peña Nieto, though, has been roundly criticized in Mexico for his response to the disappearances. Critics point out that he has yet to visit Iguala and that it took him more than a month to meet with the students’ relatives. Public outrage over the violence now threatens to upend his administration’s agenda, so far focused primarily on carrying out sweeping economic reforms. Mass graves recently discovered near Iguala do not include remains of the missing students, according to Mexican authorities. But an Argentinian forensics team, invited by Mexican officials to help examine the graves, cast doubt on that claim last week. The Argentinian experts said they could not rule out that the remains include some missing students because Mexican forensics specialists did not follow proper protocol in their initial examination of the graves. The mayor of Iguala, about 80 miles from Mexico City, and his wife were accused of being the masterminds behind the students disappearances by Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam. Both remain on the run. Classmates of the missing students and their supporters have called for Guerrero state Governer Ángel Aguirre Rivero to resign. They accuse local and federal government officials of allowing an atmosphere of impunity regarding police and gang violence. Students in Guerrero have promised radical action if the students are not returned alive, and have occupied and burned municipal buildings in Iguala. On Wednesday, Epifanio Álvarez, another of the fathers of the missing students, said his meeting with Peña Nieto left families feeling desperate. “This meeting is just like the others weve had with the attorney general and the interior minister: Its the same as always,” Álvarez said. “There really is no answer from anyone. With wire services
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:16:38 +0000