In Photos: How the Case of 43 Missing Students in Mexico Led to Massive Worldwide Protests
When the students went missing in September, the country erupted in protest and thousands took to the street to demand justice. Now their struggle has captured global attention.
By Laura Gottesdiener and Cinthya Santos
When 43 students at the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teacher's College of Ayotzinapa in Mexico went missing, the country erupted in protest. Thousands took to the streets to demand justice and get answers from the Mexican government. Now protests are springing up worldwide. Here, U.S. Latinas share why they're standing with those in Ayotzinapa.
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In New York City, hundreds of people protested last week to demand justice for the 43 Mexican students kidnapped in September from a rural teacher's college in community of Ayotzinapa. The protests were part of a global solidarity day of action to coincide with the Day of the Revolution in Mexico and included a "die-in" in Grand Central Station.
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On the way to the protest, Camila Ibanez, an indigenous artist whose family is from Bolivia, finishes coloring in a sign on the subway. In the United States, much of this solidarity organizing is being led by Latinas whose families are from Mexico and across Latin America.
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The protest began in front of the Mexican consulate in New York. Thirty-one-year-old Judith Santopietro, from Veracruz, Mexico, explained, "The case of Ayotzinapa has become an iconic moment in which everyone now recognizes the war going on in Mexico."
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Marcela Mathew, a 34-year-old woman originally from Mexicali, held out a hand painted with the number 43. Like many, she was demanding the resignation of Mexican President Peña Nieto. "No more injustice, no more Peña Nieto," she said. "He is killing our people."
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Many families brought their children to the protest. Seven-year-old Alexandra, who came to the protest with her mother, explained she came "for the students that they took." The sticker on her jacket reads, "We are all Ayotzinapa."
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Argentine researcher and activist Maga Bard explained that she's protesting both the kidnapping of the 43 students and the increasing militarization across Latin America. "These 43 students are the children of our future," she said.
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Over the loudspeaker, a man counted to 43 in Spanish in order to remember the students kidnapped in September. Paulina Espinsa, who is originally from Mexico City, recited the numbers along with the rest of the crowd: "trienta y uno, trienta y dos, trienta y tres…" When she finished, she explained, "I'm here because ya basta – it's enough."
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Many people brought flowers to the protest, including Citlalli Negrete, whose family is from Puebla, Mexico.
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Malu, a playwright from Mexico, explained: "This manifestation is because we need to raise awareness that we don't need any more of our youth killed by the narcogovernment in Mexico." In Mexico, there is reportedly so much collaboration between the drug cartels and the state police that many have taken to calling them simply el narcogobierno, or the narco-government.
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Seven-year-old Kelvin Jimenez also attended the protest with his family. On his sign was the hashtag #YaMeCanse that went viral after Mexican attorney general refused to take more questions at a press conference, instead saying, "Ya me cansé," or "I am tired."
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Elvira López, a 47-year-old from the state of Mexico, held the Mexican flag with the words "It was the state" stitched into the fabric. "I am in solidarity with the students and the parents that are suffering in México," she said.
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Holding a sign demanding the resignation of Mexican President Peña Nieto, 25-year-old Eliana Miranda explained: "We ask for justice for those responsible. They have to be punished."
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At the end of the protest in front of the Mexican consulate, the NYC Light Brigade lit up the night with the words "Ayotzinapa."
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The group then headed to Grand Central Station. At the sound of a whistle, dozens from the group dropped to the floor in a mass "die-in" to dramatize the ongoing massacres in Mexico.
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After Grand Central, the protest moved to the United Nations. Raquel de Anda, a graduate student whose family is from the border region between the United States and Mexico, has been helping organize art for the protests. Here, de Anda holds a sign depicting a parody of a recent Time magazine cover of Mexican president Pena Nieto. Instead of the title "Saving Mexico," the parody depicts the president as the grim reaper and reads "Slaying Mexico."
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