Parents Of 43 Missing Mexico Students March On 8th Anniversary To Seek Truth

The parents of the 43 missing students from southern Mexico on Monday went marching marking the eighth anniversary of their abductions without any sight of resolution from the government.

The families of the missing students called President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to keep his word in punishing those responsible. They reportedly have a glimmer of hope for justice in the case. The families who joined the march said the government appeared to be working on this issue, but on the other hand, they see internal wars in a kind of government that succumbs to military power.

“There are a lot of contradictory things, sometimes they give us information, yes we’re going to act, but then we slip along the same way,” said Clemente Rodríguez, father of one of the students from the Ayotzinapa teachers' college. The students were attacked by security forces and a drug gang in the southern state of Guerrero in 2014. There are no answers about what transpired that night in Iguala, Guerrero, and what truly happened to the students. The previous administration hid the truth while the current one offered partial advances.

“They talk about the death of our sons, but they don’t show us proof,” said Hilda Legideño, the mother of another student.

Only small burned bone fragments of three students have been identified which includes Rodríguez’s son Christian Alfonso.

Moreover, the current administration recently created the Truth Commission and declared the case of missing students a state crime. According to them, all levels of government were involved in the disappearance of the students and whitewashing thereafter. Similarly, it provided additional information confirming the military's involvement, The Trumbull Times reported.

Three members of the army, including the man who was the army commander in the area when the abductions occurred -- now a retired general -- as well as the then Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, have been arrested. They were accused of inventing the government’s original account based on torture and manipulation of evidence.

However, some charges against other suspects have been dismissed because of tainted evidence. Previously edited information from the Truth Commission report leaked to a Mexican newspaper but was not shared with the families. Spanish newspaper El Pais published documents showing 16 arrest orders against other members of the military that had been touted by the government and were quietly canceled without explanation, AP News reported.

"Truthfully, it feels like they're just mocking us," said Blanca Nava, mother of one of the missing students. "Mr. President, we want the truth.", she added as reported by Reuters.