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At least 15,000 people participated in Mexico City's rallies to mark eight months since the 43 Ayotzinapa students were forcibly disappeared. Despite police attempts to block the marches from gathering at the capital's main Zocalo square, supporters and family came together there in front of the presidential palace.
The rallies, which set off from four different locations within the city, including the iconic Angel de la Independencia (Angel of Independence) monument, lasted from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time, and were mostly peaceful.
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The Iberoamericana University, one of the country's most important higher education institutions, released a statement in support of the rally. Like the protesters, it is demanding federal authorities to find alive the 42 Ayotzinapa students who have not been found. The remains of the 43rd student, Alexander Mora, were recently identified by Austrian forensic scientists. The university also called on the federal government to resolve the case as soon as possible; to sentence all those responsible for the events of Sept. 26, when the students were attacked by municipal police and allegedly handed over to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel; and to guarantee reparations for the families of the victims.
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Current students from the Ayotzinapa rural teacher training college addressed the demonstrators, saying they were going back to Guerrero, the hyper-violent state where the school is based,where they say they will plan future actions to continue pressuring all levels of government to find their missing schoolmates alive.
The trainee teachers also reminded the crowds that last September's attacks on them the tragic events were not the first. Two students were murdered in 2011 and two more in January this year, they said.
Mexico's rural teaching schools are designed to train educators to specifically meet the needs of marginalized hard-to-reach communities. Although Mexico is one of Latin America's largest economies, illiteracy has not been erradicated. Almost 7 percent of the population cannot read, largely in Indigenous or campesino communities. However, the Raul Burgos school in Ayotzinapa is seen by authorities as a hotbed for anti-government radicals.
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The crowd and the crew from Ayotzinapa chanted, “Why, why were they murdered, if they are the hope of Latin America?”
Ruben Albarra, the lead singer of internationally popular Mexican band Cafe Tacuba, called on state and federal authorities to guarantee the safety of students and families of the 43 Ayotzinapa teacher trainees. His statement asked national and international officials to look into the Ayotzinapa case so that the crimes committed eight months ago don't go unpunished. Mexico currently comes second in the world for countries with the greatest impunity.
Like many, Albarran blames the state government for the disappearences and January's murders of two more trainee teachers, for which no charges have been made.
Spanish-born actor Daniel Gimenez Cacho told the crowd, “These events are the most recent episode of the systematic violation of human rights in Guerrero.”
Gimenez said the whole country is in pain due to the Ayotzinapa case, adding, “the missing students must be found alive.”
Among other high-profile figures attending the protests, former presidential candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas was booed by the crowd. The former leader of the PRD party was called a “traitor,” “coward,” and “assassin.” Meanwhile, Mexican historian Adolfo Gilly was injured by a stone someone among the demonstrators threw at him, according to newspaper La Jornada.
One of the parents of the missing Ayotzinapa students told the crowd, “As parents, we are in profound pain, but we are confident that our family members are still alive.”
The father of disappeared student Miguel Angel Mendoza said, “We do not want the narco-politics in our country, we reject the narco-politics in Guerrero. If the president (Enrique Peña Nieto) can not resolve this issue, he should resign.”
RELATED: Inside the Americas meets the Ayotzinapa students
The Ayotzinapa case has drawn international attention and condemnation, opening the eyes of many governments and organizations around the world to the massive human rights violations in Mexico, while the Mexican government of Peña Nieto has resorted to simple denial. This, despite the government admitting to over 23,000 disappearences across the country. It has also done everything possible to deny international reports that torture is a widespread practice in the country.
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