Every time they find a mass grave, they think it’s the one they’re looking for – but it isn’t.
No, this isn’t a Halloween tale: it’s a real life story about 43 missing Mexican students who once attended the Escuela Normal Rural Isidro Burgos, a small teachers’ college in the southern state of Guerrero. The rural, desperately poor region – long plagued by violence, armed rebellion, and criminal activity – is now at the center of a drama that underscores the dawning truth about our neighbor to the south: Mexico is fast becoming a failed state.
On September 26, students at the teachers’ college rallying against cuts to their budget came under fire from local police: 6 were killed and 25 wounded. Forty-three of the teacher trainees were abducted, handed over to the local crime syndicate, Guerrero Unido, and executed. According to witnesses, the bodies were then burned.
Parents and their fellow students organized a mass protest, demanding that the government investigate police corruption and reveal what happened to the missing students. The search for the students has become a national issue, with search parties made up of volunteers combing the countryside – and coming up with a lot more than anyone bargained for.
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