Families of Missing Students Claim Harassment by Mexican Authorities

Latin American Herald Tribune: Families of the 43 students who went missing more than two months ago in southern Mexico have claimed the government is harassing organizations supporting them in their quest for justice.

At a press conference Thursday, the families blamed the authorities for this week’s attempted kidnapping and beating of a student who was also threatened for taking part in protests demanding that the missing students be returned alive. Read more. 

Mexico says evidence proves missing students were burned up

Reuters: "This scientific proof confirms that the remains found at the scene coincide with the evidence of the investigation," Murillo said. "We will continue with the probe until all the guilty have been arrested."Attorney General Jesus Murillo told reporters that one of the students had been identified by experts in Austria from a bone fragment in a bag of ash and bits of burned tire found in a river where drug gang members said they tossed the students remains.

President Enrique Pena Nieto is facing his deepest crisis over his government's handling of the probe. The case laid bare Mexico's deep problem of impunity and corruption and it has overshadowed Pena Nieto's efforts to focus on economic reforms.  Read more. 

Outrage as Mexico's Attorney General Says Missing Ayotzinapa Students Are Dead

Global Voices: Shot, burned in a garbage dump and thrown into a muddy river in black plastic bags. That was the fate of the 43 missing student teachers, known as normalistas in Spanish, who vanished on September 26, 2014, according to Mexico's federal attorney general on November 7.

Jesus Murillo Karam‘s words were met with disbelief, anger and indignation not only by the students’ families, but also by people throughout Mexico and the world because they rely on the confessions of three drug cartel hit men, not conclusive evidence — human remains discovered near a landfill based on their information haven't been identified yet. Read more. 

Mexico Police Clash With Protesters Opposing Pena Nieto Plan

Bloomberg 
By Nacha Cattan and Eric Martin
October 3, 2013

Mexico City police blocked the entrance to the stock exchange yesterday as thousands rallied on the main business boulevard and clashed with officers to protest President Enrique Pena Nieto’s economic agenda.

Police said about 30,000 students, teachers and supporters closed off the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard, with hundreds outside the Bolsa Mexicana (BOLSAA) and U.S. Embassy. Officers clad in riot gear used fire extinguishers and tear gas to defend themselves against protesters attacking with sticks, rocks and Molotov cocktails in the capital’s historic center. Thirty two officers were injured and 102 protesters detained, Mexico City police said in a statement.  Read more. 

Protesters clash with police in Mexico City

Hurriyet Daily News 
Mexico City - Agence France-Presse


Protesters clashed with riot police in Mexico City on Wednesday, leaving dozens injured as thousands of people marched to mark the anniversary of a massacre of students in 1968.

The Red Cross said at least 51 people were injured as a group of masked protesters threw rocks and firebombs at police who used tear gas and threw stones back at them.

The city's public security department said 32 officers were injured by mostly masked and "self-declared anarchists." At least 97 people were detained.  Read more. 

Mexico 'remaking' itself, Obama tells students

Los Angeles Times 
By Kathleen Hennessey and Tracy Wilkinson
May 3, 2013

Mexico City -- President Obama painted a sunny picture of a modern, “emerging” Mexico in a speech before an audience of young people Friday, his second day of a three-day swing through Latin America.

Speaking at the National Museum of Anthropology, the president expressed optimism about the push for reforms led by the new administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto and called on young people to be persistent.

“You honor your heritage, thousands of years old, but you are also part of something new, a nation that’s in the process of remaking itself,” Obama said, speaking in a central courtyard of the iconic museum with Mexican and American flags hanging behind him. “And as our modern world changes around us, it is the spirit of young people, your optimism and idealism, that will drive the world forward.”

The president’s message of a rising Mexico serves both his and his counterpart’s domestic agendas. Obama is pushing for immigration reform, and is seeking to reassure skeptics at home that the root causes of illegal immigration – poverty, violence and corrupt institutions in Mexico – are easing under new leadership.  Read more. 

69 People Jailed Following Violent Mexico Protests

ABC News By Manuel Rueda
Dec. 4, 2012

Sixty-nine people have been sent to jail in Mexico City, for allegedly destroying businesses and public property during protests held on Saturday against Mexico's new president.

These detainees, who were in temporary detention centers until Monday, have been charged with "rioting," and "disturbing the public peace," and if convicted could face five to 30 years in jail.

But the charges brought against these 69 individuals have been vehemently rejected by social movements who participated in Saturday's protests against Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. These groups are accusing police of using excessive force on Saturday and of imprisoning the 69 protesters as an intimidation tactic.


On Monday afternoon, members of the YoSoy132 Student Movement, the Communist Party and a half dozen more political groups held a rally at Mexico City's Independence Monument to call for the liberation of these detainees.

"They weren't doing anything but voicing their opposition against an imposed president who is bad for the country," said Aura Sorita, holding a poster with the pictures of two university students. Sorita's friends, Mary Montezuma and Obed Palgod, were detained during Saturday's protests and are now being held in separate Mexico City penitentiaries.  Read more. 

“As long as poverty exists, rural normal schools will not disappear”

Desinformémonos

Americas Program Original Translation

Present during a police operation that the government of Michoacán launched against the normal schools in Tiripetío, Aretaga and Cherán on October 15, Camilo, a student and son of a farmer, tells how a young person’s life changes upon entering this institution.

TESTIMONY RECORDED BY ADAZAHIRA CHÁVEZ IN MEXICO CITY

My name is Camilo Ceja Durán, I come from the community of Tzintzuntzan, near the lakeshore of Pátzcuaro. My mother is a homemaker and performs seasonal work in the field; like the majority of students in rural normal schools, I am the son of farmers.

I decided to study in the Normal School because the economic resources in my family are not sufficient to enter the university, I wanted to study a major like Accounting or Law. The other issue that influenced me was seeing the teachers in the community, they are impressive, we worship them because they have greater knowledge. In my community there are teachers that deserve the respect to truly be called teachers, they are role models for families and the community.

Mexico's #Iam132 student protesters weigh next moves

BBC: During Mexico's presidential election, a group of university students voiced their frustration at what they saw as biased media coverage. Their movement, born on social media and known as #YoSoy132 (I am 132), shook up a staid campaign - but what now for the protesters?

"Turn off the stupid TV, turn on the truth," was the call as students marched in their thousands in the Mexican capital and other towns and cities in May and June. Read more.

Election recount begins at more than half of Mexico polls

latimes.com: MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is recounting votes cast at more than half its polling places during Sunday's presidential election, the electoral body said Wednesday, as reports of vote-buying marred the apparent win of the former ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Ballots from more than 54% of polling places will be recounted within 72 hours, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) said. The figure marks a huge increase over the 9% of ballots that were recounted in the long and contentious aftermath of the disputed 2006 election.

The recount began early Wednesday as part of the IFE's normal procedure of validating results gathered from the institute's 300 electoral districts. By law, ballots are recounted when a polling place shows irregularities, such as more votes cast than there are registered voters, a complete sweep by a single candidate or party, or a 1-percentage-point or smaller margin between first and second place.

Separately, the PRI is facing growing accusations that campaigns gave potential voters supermarket debit cards in exchange for their votes, among other allegations. Read more.

Election “full” of irregularities, concludes #YoSoy132

El Proceso: Americas Program Original Translation
See Spanish Original.
Mexico City – Based in an encampment at the Revolution Monument and with a “Peace Room,” or center of operations, in a residence in the south of the city, the members of the movement #Iam132 reported that the electoral day was “full” of irregularities and a "wave of violence."

Calling for 3,000 observers and committees to register witness reports and by means of social networks, the students documented around 500 reports of irregularities, they said through different press releases and a press conference at the Revolution Monument.

“Up until now there are more than 500 reports of irregularities, among them some are serious offenses: it has been registered that police have robbed ballot boxes and that there have been shootings. Also, we received an extreme case in which poll workers were kidnapped. In Pueblo Nuevo, Chiapas, armed groups entered the voting stations and there were two deaths. In San Miguel Totolopan, Guerrero, we found out that they filled ballot boxes. In San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, armed groups with submachine guns fired at voters. In Ensenada, Baja California, a voting employee disappeared with 2500 ballots,” said Sandino Bucio, and announced that all the documentation that was gathered will be given to Fepade [the special federal investigative unit for electoral crime] to make their case.

Of the reports received throughout the country, they said that 46% related to vote buying; 30% voting irregularities; 19% related to propaganda. In spite of the close of the election, these isolated cases can affect many.

The states with the most “controversies,” according to reports, were Mexico State, Veracruz, Tabasco and Chiapas.

What does #Iam132 mean for Mexican youth?

El Pais: Americas Program Original Translation by Anna Moses
See Spanish Original.
The aspirations of young Mexicans are very different, and equally real, like the slogan of a student protest in Mexico City- "Be informed, vote, and turn off the stupid television"- and painted on a wall in a provincial town: "I would prefer to die young and rich than old and broken like my father."

The first phrase is a slogan of the "I am #132" movement, the first far-reaching political youth movement of the century, the modern, urban and technological face of the new generation. A critical wave that began in the social networks in May, the movement took to the streets of the capital with a tide of young people that denounced the supposed alliance between the big communication networks and the PRI candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto, front runner for the elections on July 1st.

The movement threw the PRI campaign into confusion and damaged the PRI’s voting expectations, however, not bringing it down from its first place in the polls, and had such an influence that three of the four candidates- with the exception of Peña Nieto- participated in a student-organized debate.

The other phrase is on a wall in Culiacán, capital of Sinaloa province. The quote is from the writer, Humberto Padgett, winner of the Ortage and Gasset 2012 prize for the book "The Lost Boys" which was based on interviews with young prisoners. "When I was asking them what they wanted to be, they said “El Chapo” Guzmán, the boss of the Sinaloa cartel, the one who kills most, who f---- most, the worst b------, and they were asking me if it was worth the effort of studying to end up selling tacos in the street, like their older brothers."

Photo: YoSoy132 organized candle-lit march on night before election

Online and on the streets, Mexico youth protests grow as election looms

CNN: Mexico City -- They sport purple hair and piercings, plaid shirts and plastic aviator glasses. A guy with dreadlocks totes a bongo drum.

Five weeks ago, they were scrambling to finish homework assignments and studying for exams at Mexico City's Iberoamerican University. Before then, many of them had never met.

Now, the students huddle in a tight circle at a weekend protest, stack their hands in the middle and belt out a school cheer: Wolves, howling, on the path to truth. Ow-ooo. Ow-ooo. Ow-ooo.

They have become high-profile protagonists in a swelling youth movement that has drawn attention from the nation's presidential candidates and added fuel to the political frenzy leading up to Sunday's vote. Read more.

Mexico election diary: #YoSoy132 at a crossroads

The Economist: MEXICO’S presidential candidates have had two official televised debates, one in Mayand another earlier this month. On June 19th there was a third, unofficial one, hosted by a student movement called #YoSoy132. The pressure group, which was born in May after a disastrous visit by Enrique Peña Nieto, the leading candidate, to a Mexico City university, got the candidates together for two hours of discussion ahead of the election, which is now little more than a week away.

It was a decent debate. The questions put by students were good and specific; candidates had to answer simply yes or no, before outlining their proposals in more detail, which cut down on the off-topic speeches that politicians often like to dive into. It was transmitted on the internet, complete with severe technical problems due to heavy traffic (or perhaps, Twitter rumours ran, to sabotage). Read more.

Mexico's Youth Make Voices Heard Ahead Of Vote

NPR: Mexicans go to the polls July 1 to choose their next president, and polls show that voters seem inclined to embrace the past. The center-left Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled the country for more than seven decades before being ousted 12 years ago, holds a solid lead.

But Mexico's young are making their voices heard: Some fear a return of authoritarian rule; others simply want jobs.

Making Noise
For the past few weeks, two things have been happening quite a lot in the Mexican capital: rain and protests. Hitting the streets are students from some of Mexico's most elite universities. Read more.

Mexico election: Protest group 'I am 132' holds debate

Three presidential candidates participated in an online debate organized by students. Pena Nieto declined to participate, citing potential bias. A wide range of topics were covered.

BBC - Three of Mexico's presidential candidates have taken part in an online debate organised by a student protest movement known as #YoSoy132 (I am 132).

Josefina Vazquez Mota, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Gabriel Quadri answered questions over the internet.

But front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto, the main target of the group's protests, declined to take part, saying the debate would not be neutral. Read more.

Peña loses a “valuable” opportunity: #YoSoy132

El Milenio: Americas Program Original Translation

One of the moderators of the debate, Carlos Brito, regrets that Peña Nieto is not attending and insists that he is losing an opportunity to participate in a “historic” event.

Mexico City – Carlos Brito, a member of the social movement #YoSoy132 and one of the three moderators of the debate that will take place today, regrets that the PRI-PVEM candidate has rejected the invitation to participate in the debate he describes as “historic”.

Peña loses “a very valuable opportunity to participate in the first debate to take place outside of the institutions,” said Brito in an interview with Sergio Sarmiento y Lupita Juárez for the Radio Red network. “If I were a candidate, I would be very excited,” he added.

Brito repeated that during the debate today at 20:00 hours, there will be three rounds and one moderator for each one. The first will be with the university delegates with nine questions on nine subjects, the second will be free time, and the last will end with questions from Internet users.

On the theme of the video and audio published yesterday by Manuel Cosío, presumed former member of #YoSoy132, Brito emphasized that Cosío and Saúl Alvídrez – also involved in the controversy – have been outside the structure “for a long time,” and he rejected that the debate would be influenced in any way.

“We aren’t surprised, but we have now proven this feeling of unity and strength,” Brito replied upon being asked about this case.

#YoSoy132 separate from Cosío and Alvídrez

In a press release published on their official page, the movement assures that: “In light of the declarations of Manuel Cosío and Saúl Alvídrez, published on social networks and other media outlets, the #YoSoy132 movement denies that they speak in the name of the movement.”

Furthermore, the statement adds that those who seek to “carry out propaganda or find financing through political parties” are not part of the movement.

It condemns the increased attacks against them, “with the purpose of discrediting them,” for their “strength” that has reached a national and international level.

“In order to destroy us one would have to stop the opinion of a nation. The attacks against #YoSoy132 are irrefutable evidence of the movement's impact on awakening Mexican political culture. The Mexican youth have designed a revolution to take place, to interpret and to transmit.”

See Spanish Original.

Translation by Bonnie Ho, Americas Program

Fear of past, ire at present divide young Mexicans

AP: MEXICO CITY - With signs shouting "No to repression!" and "Down with the PRI!" the angry students who have taken the streets of Mexico with flash protests have become the most visible face of youth in this election.

They have challenged the presidential candidates to debates, urged others their age to pay attention to the campaign, and sought to fight off the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which held power for 71 years until its ouster in 2000.

The college students marching in the protests are among the most privileged of the 24 million young people registered to cast ballots on July 1. At the other end of the spectrum sit the majority of Mexico's young who live in poverty, did not graduate from high school, and earn less than $10 a day. Read more. Read more.

Mexican youth protest in streets against corporate media and PRI candidate

Washington Post: MEXICO CITY - Compared with historic, brutal, high-stakes presidential elections here in the past, this has been an important but blah campaign season in Mexico. But recent protests by college students and other young people have added a spark. 

Members of the under-25 demographic are calling out the country's duopolistic media companies and politically cozy broadcasters as propaganda masters and kingmakers - while warning that the front-running candidate, the telegenic Enrique Peña Nieto, is an empty suit.

The only problem with this narrative is that more young people support Peña Nieto than they do his challengers, according to polls, which may make the protests here, led by urban university students, a well-meaning but ultimately meaningless blip. Read more.