- Joined
- Jan 23, 2013
- Messages
- 30,643
How our drug and gun habits tie in with the 43 missing Mexican students
By SCOTT MARTELLE
By now, unfortunately, we’ve become inured to reports of violence among Mexico’s brutal drug gangs, from the murderous border town of Nuevo Laredo to the gruesome killing zones of Guerrero state, near Acapulco. But the reports over the past few weeks about the disappearance of 43 young Mexicans studying to become teachers brings the long-running crisis into painfully sharp relief.
The students disappeared in late September after a violent protest against government policies in Iguala, Guerrero. City police attacked the mostly student protesters, killing six and injuring more than two dozen. But in the aftermath, nearly 60 protesters were unaccounted for. About 15 were later found hiding in their homes but the rest, 43, vanished, and witnesses said some were led away by police. A few days later, 22 police officers were arrested in connection with the violence, but the 43 students remained missing.
The governor of Guerrero said recently that local police in his state had been infiltrated by the Guerrero Unidos drug gang, an accusation that seemed affirmed when the local mayor ran off as the investigation unfolded. A mayor and several police officers in another Geurrero city were arrested by the federal police over alleged links to the drug cartel. A leader of the cartel killed himself as soldiers closed in.
continued here http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opin...g-students-drugs-gun-laws-20141020-story.html
By SCOTT MARTELLE
By now, unfortunately, we’ve become inured to reports of violence among Mexico’s brutal drug gangs, from the murderous border town of Nuevo Laredo to the gruesome killing zones of Guerrero state, near Acapulco. But the reports over the past few weeks about the disappearance of 43 young Mexicans studying to become teachers brings the long-running crisis into painfully sharp relief.
The students disappeared in late September after a violent protest against government policies in Iguala, Guerrero. City police attacked the mostly student protesters, killing six and injuring more than two dozen. But in the aftermath, nearly 60 protesters were unaccounted for. About 15 were later found hiding in their homes but the rest, 43, vanished, and witnesses said some were led away by police. A few days later, 22 police officers were arrested in connection with the violence, but the 43 students remained missing.
The governor of Guerrero said recently that local police in his state had been infiltrated by the Guerrero Unidos drug gang, an accusation that seemed affirmed when the local mayor ran off as the investigation unfolded. A mayor and several police officers in another Geurrero city were arrested by the federal police over alleged links to the drug cartel. A leader of the cartel killed himself as soldiers closed in.
continued here http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opin...g-students-drugs-gun-laws-20141020-story.html
