After Decades of Violence, Mexicans Are Taking a Powerful Stand Against Corruption Eileen Shim - World.Mic
go to original November 2, 2014

Mexico: "We want them ALIVE!" Artists demand return of 43 missing students. (RuptlyTV)

Last month, 43 student teachers went missing in the small town of Iguala in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. But what began as a story about a local tragedy has morphed into a national outcry over corruption and narcoterrorism — and one of the biggest protests that Mexico has seen in decades.



Tens of thousands have taken to the streets throughout the country, with tensions flaring as more and more news about the students' disappearance has come out. On Wednesday alone, 50,000 people marched through Mexico City and rioted in the city of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, setting fire to government buildings and ransacking supermarkets and shopping centers.

What are the protests about? Investigators say that the students were arrested on Sept. 26 after staging a protest, with three being killed on the scene along with three passers-by.

María de los Ángeles Pineda, the wife of the mayor of Iguala, allegedly ordered police action because she was concerned that the protest would interfere with her speaking event; the couple has been on the run since the news came out. It is now believed that the students were then handed over to a local gang to be beaten and executed.

But to the protesters, the outcry is about more than just this latest crime. This nexus of government corruption and narcoterrorism has become all too familiar to the weary public, and protesters are taking the first, crucial steps to put pressure on this issue.

Read the whole story at World.Mic

Photo: Associated Press

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