Ayotzinapa Legal Team, Parents & Tonatierra Speak At Tucson on Mexico Human Rights (10/16/2017; 20:42)

La Cartita -- On the 'Comite de Defensa de los Barrio' radio programme, in Phoenix, Arizona, Vidulfo Rosas, head of the Ayotzinapa legal team in charge of advising the parents of the missing 43 Ayotzinapa College students, gave details on the latest about the Ayotzinapa case. Also in Phoenix was Mario González Contreras, the father of Cesar Manuel Hernandez González, one of the 43 students, who has visited the United States many times to spread awareness about his son's disappearance. Tonatierra, an indigenous Mexican/Chicano organization based in Phoenix, was also present during the different activities that took place in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.

On September 26, 2014, 43 Ayotzinapa students were forcibly disappeared by municipal police in Iguala, Guerrero. In a shooting attack led by municipal police, later overseen by Mexican military and federal police, students were beaten, killed and kidnapped over a 12 hours period of time. After 3 years, many families connected to the event continue to clamor for justice.

Ayotzinapa students were forcibly disappeared because of their strong sense of collectivism and defense of the poor, according to the legal representative from Tlachinollan, Vidulfo Rosales. He stated that the students were socialists, who believed in questioning the immense injustice that plagues Guerrero and Mexico, generally.

Tonatierra has also sponsored the presence of the parents at multiple UN events where they have been able to raise the Ayotzinapa case as a clear infringement of indigenous rights. The Ayotzinapa case has been recognized in regional and international forums multiple times thanks to many of these type of humanitarian efforts.

Tupak Huehuecoyotl (Tonatierra), Don Mario (Ayotzinapa Parent), Vidulfo Rosales (Tlachinollan) & Salvador Reza, Radio Host From CDB (Left To Right) Photo: Tonatierra

For many supporters, the parents of the 43 are thought to be the greatest hope for Mexico's rural and indigenous poor: 'if they can achieve justice, so can we', many think. The parents have kept the issue alive of their children's disappearance despite their marginalized status. Rosales noted that had the students been corporate friendly undergraduates at somewhere like 'Tec De Monterrey', a private technological university that caters to enterprises, theyre would have been a stronger government response. From the government's view, the rural poor are not deserving of help and its far easier to cover-up the attack against them than to investigate.

Don Mario tore into the Mexican government's propaganda about the Ayotzinapa case. Since the disappearance, the Mexican government seeks to present the students as potentially linked to los Rojos Cartel organization. The accusation has been labeled as outrageous and senseless since the students were freshmen from different states and municipalities. They had only resided in Ayotzinapa for less than a few weeks, making it impossible for them to develop the contacts and habits associated with drug traffickers. His son, Cesar, is from Tlaxcala, a state over 5 hours away by car.

"Families were destroyed" said Don Mario to the Phoenix area listeners. He said disappearances break the resolve and harmony of uncles, siblings and children. That it pained him to not have concrete answers for the siblings of Cesar who frequenly ask for his whereabouts.

A lot of evidence was left behind during the kidnapping and shooting attacks against the buses of the Ayotzinapa students. Anabel Hernandez, a reporter known for her work with Proceso magazine, was also present in the radio broadcast. She called in to the radio programme offer a broad review of an October 2014 investigative report she conducted on the Ayotzinapa case.

Hernandez reviewed details about the Ayotzinapa disappearance uncovered during her investigation. She cited reports filed by the Federal Police's forensic reports. Among the most salacious details was the fact that there were 18 shell casings from a German G3 rifle reserved for military use.

Thus, the implication is that either the Mexican military participated in disguise or there was usage of military rifles in an unauthorized manner by Iguala and Cocula municipal police. Regardless, the manufacturer of the shell casings was definitely the Mexican government.