Mexico’s missing students generate unwanted attention on security

BY ROGER F. NORIEGA AND FELIPE TRIGOS

From: IASW 

ROGER F. NORIEGA AND FELIPE TRIGOS

Mexican authorities are scrambling to quell the furor caused by the disappearance of 43 college students in late September from Iguala, a municipality in the southern state of Guerrero. Once again, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration has been caught off-guard by a scandal that shows that Mexico has not out-grown its history of insecurity and corruption.

Many suspect that the students are the victims of drug-related violence that continues unabated in various parts of the country. According to local published reports, the mayor of Iguala, José Luis Abarca, suspected that some of the missing students had ties to the narco-trafficking organization, Los Rojos, and ordered that they be detained and turned over to members of Guerreros Unidos, a rival drug gang allegedly managed by Abarca’s wife, María de los Ángeles Pineda.

The state of Guerrero has seen high levels of criminality for many years. Its local authorities, suspected of ties to criminal organizations, have long resisted security measures advocated by federal authorities. Since public demonstrations erupted after the attack on the students, the federal government has deployed elements of the newly created federal “gendarmerie” to the state, and the federal attorney general’s office is now heading the search and the investigation.

Under pressure from the federal government, opposition parties, and civil society, the governor of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre Rivero, was forced to resign. It is believed that Aguirre Rivero had close links with Abarca and his wife and that he was responsible for covering up other cases of corruption.

So far, the investigation has led to the discovery of 10 unrelated clandestine graves containing nearly 40 bodies, confirming the worst suspicions about Guerrero’s history of criminality and corruption.

The interim governor appointed after Aguirre’s resignation, Rogelio Ortega, will likely do little to restore public confidence because of his own links with guerrilla groups. Ortega Martínez allegedly helped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) choose potential kidnap victims in Mexico during the early 2000s. Ortega Martinez’s criminal ties to the FARC are documented in computer files captured by the Colombian military after a raid on a guerrilla encampment in Ecuador in 2008. This latest revelation fuels the growing perception in Mexico and abroad of rampant corruption.

Since taking office in December 2012, President Peña Nieto has focused most of his efforts on historic economic reforms. The successful implementation of these prized reforms—which are intended to generate domestic and foreign capital—may be jeopardized if the federal government is not able to apply the rule of law on criminals and corrupt officials and stem the tide of violence.

Widespread public demonstrations and global media coverage since the Iguala tragedy are undermining Peña Nieto’s bid to portray Mexico as a stable, modernizing nation. His administration faces the daunting task of reassuring anguished family members and a skeptical nation. In the meantime, potential international investors are watching as this dramatic crisis unfolds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://aserne.blogspot.com/