This is KPBS Mid Day Edition I am Maureen Cavanugh. What happened to the 43 students who disappeared in southern Mexico? It's been a year since we heard the terrible story that dozens of teaching students had last been seen riding on a bus in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Since that time the Mexican government has said the group may have been executed and their bodies burned by drug cartel hugs outside investigation has cast doubt on many of the government findings. Protest rallies were held in San Diego over the weekend to market the grim anniversary of people calling for answers in justice. Joining me are [ Indiscernible ] director of the transport Institute at the University of San Diego and Avenue welcome. Inks, Maureen . And [ Indiscernible ] Marco welcome. Thank you, tran04. Now at this is one of the strangest ultimate horrific stories to emerge from Mexico. Can you fill in the background of what little we know for sure in the disappearance of the students? So we know that a year ago Friday six people were killed and 43 students from this normal school were forcibly disappeared for [ Indiscernible ] we know that the municipal police were involved and we know that federal police and Mexican military knew was going on while it happen. We also know that the [ Indiscernible ] drug cartel was involved. And we have a fairly strong presumption that the students were killed but only one of the bodies has been identified and it wasn't a body which is partial remains of a boy named Alexander Mora he was 19 beyond that we have a series of kind of computing accounts of the event. And we had an account from the state government of Guerrero we had an account from the federal government which officially closed its investigation and then as you mentioned we had a think a much more credible account but still a partial account from committee of independent experts convened by the Inter-American human rights question. And the investigation by the Mexican government I think most people probably are familiar with their findings. Could you also outline those findings for us just so we have the background of the? Shares of the official story was the students were on the way to Mexico City to protect education reforms I Mexican president [ Indiscernible ] they had a history of [ Indiscernible ] buses to get these their would negotiate with drivers. They did this in Guerrero they took a total of five buses and then they were stopped at various places in the city of equal a that might beginning of about 9:30 PM to time I'm useful police which first fired upon them. The students dispersed 43 of them were picked up by the musical lease according to the official narrative they were then handed over to members of this drug cartel who tortured and murdered them and then burn the bodies at a nearby garbage dump. And now a new investigation the one you mentioned by the[ Indiscernible ] on human rights says much of that official story is not true. Yes and it begins with the very basics of the what. For example the government support gets the bus station that the students find them run. The number of buses and this bus that is barely mentioned in the government account. The government's accounts basically talks about the detention of the buses as if it happened in one place even though it actually happened at four different locations around the city. The biggest problem I think that it points out on the work is is that it comes from the testimony of arrested members of this drug cartel and they're all over the place as to how many kids were the order of killing? With method of the killing? What they did with the bodies? When actually do these the Penn State Place. connectors on most of 24 hour gap in the testimony and then what happened to the bodies afterwards? The friends experts have said that this idea that they were burned at [ Indiscernible ] does doesn't add up that there would've been an enormous higher witnesses would've seen it there in the evidence of it afterwards etc. so there's a sort of scientific impossibility of the what. Far more important I think is the Inter-American commission this panel of experts they question the why and they basically there are three different theories out there and they've largely discarded the first two. The first was from the state government of Guerrero and they said look these kids had been infiltrated by members of both circles which was a smalltime drug cartel and [ Indiscernible ] went after them because of that. Commission looked at this and said first there's no evidence. There is no evidence of them being involved in the drug trade in that's actually a smear on them and their surviving family members. But they were tracked by federal police military the entire time they were there that pointed out and radio traffic that subsequently testified that they identified them as unarmed students in other words they were involved. Third and most important, they were trying to get the buses out of the Kuala. They weren't trying to get into equal a women were picked up so the second theory is the dental government theory which is sort of the official rendering of the event which was that the mayor ordered this attack on the students in order to prevent them from disrupting a campaign event for his wife who was running to succeed the mayor of the Kuala. The panel of experts points out that the students that it's coming out she arrived in equality event was over so it doesn't fit the most basic timeline and again they were trying to leave. So we're left with is a clear rumor which is Dutch Mac I want to call them for money because I want to talk more about that in just a moment and that sort of being wiped theory that the Inter-American commission on human rights has sort of been pushing about this& Hold it for mowing. Limit get Marco [ Indiscernible ] into the conversation and ask you Marco, or people involved in the search for truth in this particular instance in the disappearance of the students? Are they satisfied with any of the investigations of our? The investigations done by the Inter-American human rights Council or by the government's? All of them. All them. No, not at all from neither. The parents we have direct indication with the parents and they are very grateful for the investigators that are part of the interdisciplinary group of independent experts of Inter-American rights counsel. Their very grateful for what they have done but they are very adamant constantly very Ottoman about telling us that the government of Mexico has not allowed that commission to do their job adequately. That is to say that even though we have now found that the government's version of the official story quote" was completely physically and scientifically false, we still have not found the answers and all the answers that we want because the government doesn't allow the commission to do their work. They impose barriers on them. Secondly, when it comes to the government's addition the parents and by the way as activists here and internationally we see the parents of the 43 missing students as our leaders of this movement so what they say goes and because if I was missing I would hope that people would take into account what my parents say because I believe in their hearts and I think that is the primary thing. But what their hearts tell them is that the Mexican government, there addition of the story is completely false. Marco let me stop you and ask your question. There were a coalition of groups held a number events to recognize the one-year anniversary that we're talking about. Tells what happened in San Diego over the weekend? What events were held in order to mark this anniversary? Yes, of course. [ Indiscernible ] the collective dying part of in collaboration with many other mini base organizations that a weeklong series of actions leading up to the 26th of mini base organizations that a weeklong series of actions leading up to 26 September. The main action being for 3 miles exact March the started off on Thursday the 24th to Saturday the 26th. The march went through the [ Indiscernible ] South San Diego Chula Vista national city [ Indiscernible ] city Heights and others. Eventually arriving at the [ Indiscernible ] in Balboa Park. Here we show to group of roughly hundred 50 community members documentary [ Indiscernible ] which translates to Chronicles of a state crime. After all this we hosted a beautiful community forum were we had the opportunity to have a frank and honest conversation with the community about the violence that is plaguing Mexico, the connections of that violence to violence our communities experience here at home in the general extremely fundamental practice of constructing [ Indiscernible ] community here in San Diego in order to take her efforts in China. Okay you answered the question is when to ask you wiped it was important to do this in San Diego. You say that there are links between the community here in San Diego and what's going on in Mexico want to come back to the just a moment first, the Inter-American commission of human rights as we said it's an answer the question of what happened to the students but opposed the theory as to why the kidnapping might have happened which is very different from any of the other explanations that the government investigations have come up with. What do they say? Is important to note that it's a couple members of the judiciary working group. They haven't come out [ Indiscernible ] but they basically said look, the evidence points to the attention in on the buses not the students. And they put the suggestion out there with some circumstantial evidence that the buses were used for transporting heroin in cash as part of the truck trade and that the reason why the students were so carefully monitored is because they were monitoring the buses and is the reason why another bus for example charter bus carrying kids soccer team was attacked in the driver and one of the members of the secretary was killed.'s that is after they put up their. Big knowledged it was just a theory and is one I think that is sounds very plausible but I think we also need to -- there's a sound of cautionary note there to. The Mexican government from beginning has worked very hard to make this incident out to be sort of an example number one of the brutality of the drug traffickers and it certainly has pieces of that but I also high broader reality. If you look at a state like rare on the one hand he has organized crime clearly has a high presence there. There's lots of executions there it has the highest homicide rate in Mexico and that's partly why but the homicide rate would still be high it has a long history of inequality but also political oppression and is the part that hasn't quite getting enough attention.-1960s the state government there has carried out massacres against protesters. In 1995 the governor had to resign because of one of those. And anti-drug activities have often been a cover for political oppression in Guerrero so I think we need to be very careful about that. When you look at this mayor [ Indiscernible ] and you look at his arrest in November, he was arrested for the disappearance of 43 students. Was arrested for the murder of two other members in his political party's political gangsterism of allowing your. Want to ask you both La Mesa with you [ Indiscernible ] there were 30,000 Mexican citizens in the present of Mexico is just announced that his creating a new special prosecutor to investigate missing cases. Do think it is going to make a difference? I always want to give that child kind of gesture and opportunity and to want to presume that people are acting in bad faith `a special prosecutor won't likely make a difference because we find in these cases is that every time you find an incident like this like a [ Indiscernible ] over these 43 disappeared we found just around the corner where this took place 300 other identified bodies have shown up just because of the intense investigation. So the one hand yes I hope there is some good faith and I feel that in Mexican civil society there is demand for something better for the government but the president isn't quite with them. With you think Marco, what do you think peanut states could do about this? What we can do a lot. First and foremost we believe that international solidarity especially from the United States a country that perpetuates the violence in Mexico and other global South countries international policies like the[ Indiscernible ] initiative is crucially imperative to this movement. We need to understand that as a border community we have a moral historical historical obligation to assist our sisters and brother south of us with a personal freedom for we also contribute to their suffering. The United States, we need to have a very critical conversation here, a very critical conversation here in the United States about how is it that our tax dollars is contributing to either piece or lack of peace in other countries? In this is a perfect example here in Mexico. The [ Indiscernible ] initiative which is now roughly has gone up to a total of about $2.2 billion, it is an initiative created in 2007 in order to help fund Mexican efforts against the war Mexican war on drugs. By supplying arms to the military trick training and other forms of help. What we have seen since 2007 is over 164,000 people who have died. You mentioned over 30,000 people with gone missing, more than Afghanistan and Iraq combined. So have to really see and understand and how it opens the public as to how our money here how our tax dollars is contributing to the problem and where it is going specifically so are government to give the American people more details more specific details as to what our taxes are doing how we can change it. Marco, you started by talking about your connection your group's connection to the parents in Mexico. What to the parents think? Do they have any hope that the students are still alive? Of course they do. First and foremost, I have spoken to many people just here in [ Indiscernible ] just here a couple miles away from us of family members who were missing for years more than one year and they came back. But you know, personally I believe they are alive or go on a personal level I personally believe they are alive because the parents believe they are alive and I tell people all the time, if I was missing and my parents had no real evidence given to them that I was dead then I would want them to believe that I was still alive out there and they have told me that if there was no evidence to suggest that I was dead no real evidence to suggest that I was dead then they would believe I was still alive and I think we have to see from that perspective. Marco, we have to end it there. I've been speaking with Marco [ Indiscernible ] with [ Indiscernible ] and[ Indiscernible ] director of the transferred into the University of San Diego. Think of her much. For much. Thanks very much.
From Mexico City to San Diego, demonstrators took to the streets over the weekend renewing calls for justice, one year after 43 Mexican college students vanished.
The community group, Raices Sin Fronteras, marched 43 miles from San Ysidro to Balboa Park to mark the grim anniversary and the case has put a spotlight on the estimated 30,000 Mexican citizens who have gone missing in the last few years.
Mexico's president announced that he's creating a special prospector for missing people.
Ev Meade, director of Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego and Marco Amaral of Raices sin Fronteras discuss the underlying issues revealed by disappearance of the 43 students Monday on Midday Edition.
