The Importance Of Bystanders In Guerrero, Mexico

On September 26, 2014, about one hundred students and many bystanders were attacked in Iguala, a city in the state of Guerrero, Mexico by local police forces. The students were on a caravan of busses headed to Iguala from Ayotzinapa to Mexico City to protest against the political and criminal disturbance of a corrupt government. A few students and bystanders were killed by gun fire, and many students fled during the first and second round of shootings that took place that evening. There was no intervention, the students tried to argue that they were not armed, and could only defend themselves with rocks, while bodies of injured and dead laid there for hours until help came, many were left to bleed to death. Forty-three students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School were snatched away and put into a …show more content…
It was rumored that these students, supposedly were on their way to protest against the Mayor, Jose Luis Abarca’s wife, María de Los Ángeles Pineda, who was giving a speech on the hopes she would be elected Mayor after her husband’s term was done. The speech was going on the same day, but was over before the students had even arrived, to switch busses and head to Mexico City. According to Bryan Walsh of Time Magazine, the couple had been accused of ordering the police to capture the students, and hand them over to the drug cartel, Guerreros Unidos (Pineda’s brother, Felipe Flores Velazquez, is said to be the head of this cartel). The couple fled the state as soon as word got out that they were being accused of knowing what happened to the students (Time, 2014). They were found hiding in Mexico City and arrested months later. The state of Guerrero is a large state in Mexico that is said to be the birthplace of the National flag, with many migrant workers in search of better jobs throughout Mexico, due to the poor economy and conditions. There is much drug activity in this state due to the conditions that make growing certain drugs easier such as