Mexico City, September 15 (teleSUR-RHC)-- After almost a year since their children disappeared with no valid explanation and little advancement in the case, the parents of the 43 Ayotzinapa students have agreed to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on September 24th.
The disappearance of the students last September 26th has shaken the country and caused widespread outrage, both nationally and internationally, while the Mexican state has been continuously criticized for its handling of the case.
Last week, President Peña Nieto announced that he would meet with the parents ahead of the one year anniversary of the disappearance. He claimed he supports their commitment to victims’ rights and a fight for justice, saying he will continue to investigate the disappearances until the facts are clarified.
“Mexico will continue with its efforts at achieving truth and justice in the Ayotzinapa case,” said Peña Nieto in the statement.
The parents of the missing students have long called for a meeting with state officials to demand justice for their children and advancement in the case proceedings.
“We require that Peña Nieto come and look us in the face before this month is done. We require him to receive us, because it is his duty as a public servant to hear the demands of the people,” said Felipe de la Cruz, spokesman for the Ayotzinapa parents, at a press conference.
Some 60 people are expected to attend the meeting with the president, including relatives of the victims, representatives of civil society organizations, and international investigators involved in the case, along with Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio and other state officials. The location for the meeting has not yet been released.
The President's announcement comes after international investigators released a damning report criticizing Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and its handling of the investigation.
The report concluded that the state's version of events – that the students were all killed, incinerated and their remains thrown in a river by a local drug gang Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors) – was not viable and that officials failed to follow through on obvious lines of investigation.
