Protesters demand justice for student killed by police in southern Mexico

By Francisca Meza Carranza Chilpancingo, Mexico, Mar 16 (EFE). – Some 2,000 students, teachers, and activists marched Saturday in Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, to demand justice for the student Yanqui Gomez murdered by state police on Mar. 7. The demostration was called by Raúl Burgos, a teacher at the Ayotzinapa College, and led by a member of the Committee of Parents of the 43 students from the same college who disappeared in 2014, and whose whereabouts are still unknown.

The demonstration over three hours, starting from the market in Chilpancingo and heading toward the federal highway that leads to Tixtla, where the murder took place. As they passed through the streets and avenues, the students painted graffiti demanding justice and the return of the disappeared. They also held a first rally at the Anti Monument to the 43, so-called because it is a community-built memorial. “March 7 is not forgotten,” “We are neither right nor left,” “Our ideals do not fit in your ballot boxes, neither do our dead,” and “I change my vote for the disappeared” were some of the slogans painted on the walls.

The march ended with a rally at the place of Yanqui Gomez’s murder, where his mother reiterated the demand for justice and asked for life imprisonment for the police officers responsible. One of the parents of the 43 missing students demanded the release of the security videos, saying he distrusted the investigation carried out by the authorities. He also criticized the dismissal of the officials involved in the case, saying it was a way to avoid their responsibilities. One of the participants from the Ayotzinapa Teachers’ College demanded an end to the harassment of the rural colleges and criticized the state police for attacking his colleagues on several occasions instead of acting against organized crime.

On Thursday, a week after the murder of the young man, the Secretary General of the Government, Ludwig Marcial Reynoso Núñez, and the Secretary of Public Security, Rolando Solano Rivera, presented their resignations. The Attorney General, Sandra Luz Valdovinos Salmerón, was also dismissed. To date, the police officer responsible for the murder of the student, identified as David N., is still missing; the other two participants, Sigifredo N. and Francisco N., remain in preventive custody.