More than two years have passed since 43 young adults were abducted and disappeared in southwest Mexico. Two family members connected to the incident, which involved drug gangs and authorities thought to be corrupt, visit Michigan State University today. We learn about their visit and problems facing Mexico.
It’s now been more than two years since 43 Mexican college students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College vanished after being abducted in the southwestern part of the country.
An inquiry by the Mexican government claimed corrupt local authorities were responsible. It determined that local police, possibly at the order of the local Mayor, turned the students over to a drug gang, which massacred them.
Many family members of victims don’t believe the government’s account. They point to an impartial panel of Latin American investigators which disagreed with the findings and said the investigation should continue.
Meanwhile, some family members cling to hope that their children are still alive.
Two such family members, both fathers of boys impacted by the kidnapping, visit Michigan State University today. One father’s son is still missing. The other’s son barely escaped.
Current State discusses the disappearance, the investigation and today’s events at MSU with Miguel Cabañas, an MSU Professor of Romance & Classical Studies who is writing a book about the war on drugs in popular culture, and José Badillo, an MSU graduate student from Mexico whose doctoral dissertation will be on corruption in his native country.
