The government of Enrique Peña Nieto stands accused of trying to sow divisions among the movement demanding justice and the safe return of the 43 forcibly disappeared Ayotzinapa students by members of the movement. The new government maneuver was flagged up Monday by Felipe de la Cruz, spokesperson for the relatives of the students.
RELATED: The Forced Disappearances of 43 Students in Mexico
The National Defense Secretariat recently revealed that there were at least two active soldiers in the Mexican Armed Forces among the missing 43 students, but at first refused to reveal names. This has lead to speculation by the families that the omission was a deliberate effort to sow division.
“Why didn't they say so from the beginning?” De la Cruz asked regarding the timing of this revelation, nine months after the students were shot at and disappeared.
The name of one of the confirmed soldiers among the 43, Julio Cesar Lopez Patolzin, was revealed by his family. His father, Rafael Lopez, say he had deserted the armed forces before he became a trainee teacher: “It isn't fair that they turn against my son because he was a soldier and claim that he was an infiltrator, because he had already deserted,” Lopez told Proceso magazine.
Lopez also revealed that the mother of the other alleged soldier says he also deserted before signing up to the Ayotzinapa school.
The relatives of the disappeared students held a meeting soon after news emerged that there were soldiers among the missing students, to ascertain if there was a possibility that the group of students had been infiltrated by the military. However, the families decided that this was a deliberate attempt to create divisions within the activists and affirmed their commitment to each other and to the struggle.
The 43 students have been missing since late September, 2014. The government claims they were killed and their bodies burned, however the relatives believe the government is engaging in a cover-up.