officialikercasillas-deactivate:

yes absolutely

What is happening in Mexico? 

• How it began

On September 26, students our age (~19-22) were attacked by the local police and gangs in Iguala, Guerrero in Mexico. They were studying to become teachers at Escuela Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa. I have read many articles about how the students were in the town to ask for money to help pay tuition, to protest discrimination of rural school teachers, to travel to commemorate another student massacre of 1986, etc., so I am unsure of what is what here. But the students were on the buses and police blocked their way to get the students out. When they did, they opened fire on the students at once. Some students threw rocks back in self-defense, but the students were unarmed. Six people died and 17 were injured. Three students died, a taxi driver, a woman in a taxi, and a football player that was just 15 years old (x). The injured were taken away by an ambulance, local journalists came, etc but it was not over as more men came in plain clothes and rifles (x). These men are apart of Guerreros Unidos and work for the Beltran Leyva cartel. The students were forced into police vans and have since disappeared. 43 students are missing.

Some of the students escaped by hiding in nearby houses. One terrified student tried running away, but he was found later yet with his eyes gouged out and his face completely sliced away to the bone. A YOUNG MAN only 19 years old suffered through this. (As a warning, be aware that there are photos online and that while searching deep through articles and tags, they are present.) A survivor of the attack says this is “symbol of the cartel assassins” (x).

22 local policemen have been detained for suspicion of working with Guerreros Unidos. This is how authorities were then tipped on what has happened to some students. (x) (x)

• The Mass Graves

~ More than a week later, on Saturday, authorities found mass graves nearby that has 28 burned remains with the tips (x). We fear that this may be some of the students. We won’t have DNA analysis to confirm anything for another two weeks, if not longer.

MORE mass graves were found yesterday, but it is still unknown about how many remains these graves have (x). 

Keep in mind that the CITY MAYOR AND HIS WIFE are on the RUN. No one knows where they are. 

We still don’t understand the reason behind this violence. Why kidnap and kill these young men? There are several explanations online, but how do you explain something like this? One story is that the mayer’s wife was giving a speech that day and did not want to be disrupted by the students. Keep in mind that the wife is the head of the city’s family welfare department and also has family connections to cartels (x). There are other alternatives online, but I don’t know. I just don’t. 

• You cannot be silent about what is happening in Mexico

You can’t. You just can’t. Social media has a big impact and this story has to spread. In the last 24 hours I have seen an incredible boost in coverage about Ayotzinapa.

On Wednesday, thousands protested the disappearance of the students in Mexico.

Amounting pressure is being put on the Mexican government to find the missing students. There is also added outrage and demand ‘to punish politicians linked to organized crime’. It is no shock when considering the police corruption and brutality in Mexico. As Mexico bleeds, we all bleed. 

Americans cannot ignore the violence of drug cartels and place it as just a problem in Mexico. There is too much innocent bloodshed. And because BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars are collected in the United States by Mexican drug cartels, it is a shared responsibility (x). CHILDREN ARE DYING. Do not skim over these articles, do not just read them and do nothing, you have to act and spread the information. Do not be silent. Please, please, please help and pay attention. 

ARTICLES

• Mexico missing students: Nationwide protests held | BBC
• Mexico relatives search for students in Guerrero | BBC
• Mexico missing students: New mass graves found in Iguala | BBC
• There’s little mystery to this mass grave: Mexico’s drug war is killing children | The Guardian
• Are missing students in mass graves found near Iguala, Mexico? | CNN
• Mexico Drug War Fast Facts | CNN
• Iguala, Guerrero, tiene un viernes violento con ataques y muertes | CNN (Español)
• Survivor of Mexico Student Massacre: ‘It Was Terrifying’ | NBC
• Anatomy of a Mexican Student Massacre | The Daily Beast
• The Apparent Massacre of Dozens of Students Exposes the Corruption at the Heart of Mexico | TIME
• 43 Missing Students, 1 Missing Mayor: Of Crime And Collusion In Mexico | NPR

TUMBLR TEXT POSTS (these have better information than I can explain)

• free-clementine | Nobody even cares what’s happening in Mexico.
• thinkmexican | Mexico Takes to the Streets for Students of Ayotzinapa
• animalsandtrees | In Mexico
• riseandshinecourage | Please, stop to read this.
• there are more and more if you just search

If there any corrections that need to be included, please just add them in.