Families mark 11th anniversary of Ayotzinapa disappearances as protests demand truth and justice
Relatives of the 43 students gather in Mexico City to urge new disclosures and accountability as authorities continue investigations into the 2014 case.
Thousands gathered in downtown Mexico City on Friday to mark the 11th anniversary of the Ayotzinapa disappearances, chanting 'truth and justice' as they demanded answers about the 43 students who vanished in 2014. The Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College students disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero, while traveling by bus to Mexico City for a protest. Authorities have said the students were abducted and killed by members of a criminal cartel with ties to local and national officials, including elements within the police and potentially the military. The case has become one of the most scrutinized and controversial in modern Mexico, with a long-running narrative about a government cover-up that produced a parallel version of events rather than the truth.
Despite official statements that investigations continue, families insist they still lack clarity about what happened to their loved ones. The anniversary event in Mexico City drew relatives, activists, and supporters to a central boulevard, where banners and photos of the 43 were carried alongside calls for accountability. The event took place under a heavy police presence designed to prevent violence as crowds linked the Ayotzinapa case to broader concerns about corruption, cartel violence, and the thousands of other disappearances across the country.
President Claudia Sheinbaum, speaking on the anniversary, reaffirmed a commitment to 'get to the truth and justice and to find the young men' and noted that investigators had opened new lines of inquiry after replacing the special prosecutor on the case. Yet families remain skeptical of the pace and scope of progress. 'Governments come and governments go,' said Clemente Rodríguez, father of Christian Rodríguez, in a video accompanying the march, 'but the case remains unresolved.'
More than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the case over the years, with several freed on procedural grounds while others remain on trial. Among those facing charges is former Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, accused of torture, forced disappearance and obstruction of justice. The case has also centered on the search for Tomás Zerón, the former chief investigator, who is living in Israel, while other potential extraditions to the United States are under consideration as part of ongoing international cooperation, a process Sheinbaum has said she is seeking with the U.S. administration led by President Donald Trump.
Analysts note that the Ayotzinapa affair has become a symbol of the broader crisis of impunity and the staggering toll of disappearances in Mexico, a country that authorities say has logged more than 133,000 missing people. While government officials point to dozens of arrests and the formal designation of the case as a 'state crime' since 2022, families insist they have not yet seen truth or accountability. The banners depicting the 43 — and the stories of the students who never returned — remain a constant presence in the capital, reminding Mexicans of one of the country’s defining crimes and the ongoing struggle for justice.
As authorities continue to pursue leads, the families’ demand persists: where are the students, what happened to them, and who is responsible for the actions that took them away? The anniversary event on Friday highlighted that unresolved questions endure despite a decade of investigations and political shifts, reinforcing the sense of a case that continues to burn at the heart of Mexico’s national conscience.