Deaths of 43 Students: Former Governor Arrested

Ángel Aguirre, former governor of Mexico’s Guerrero state, has been arrested on suspicion of ordering the destruction of crucial evidence in the case of 43 students who disappeared in 2014. The country’s Attorney General Ernestina Godoy announced this.

According to her, Aguirre is suspected of obstructing justice and involvement in forced disappearances. The former governor had previously denied the allegations against him.

The incident is considered one of the largest human rights tragedies in Mexico’s history. International investigations concluded that 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teacher-training college were killed after members of an organized criminal group and police officers colluded while the students were traveling to a protest in Mexico City. So far, the remains of only three students have been identified; the fate of the others remains unknown.

The Attorney General said statements obtained from two individuals in January and May this year, including a protected witness, indicate that Aguirre may have held a meeting with senior officials about destroying evidence related to the night the students disappeared. Details of the meeting have not yet been disclosed in the interests of the investigation.

Godoy said the new evidence confirms the possibility that the former governor was involved in destroying information that could help determine the students’ fate. Under Mexican law, the suspect’s surname is therefore being represented by the letter “N” in official statements.

According to investigators, state authorities had previously said that no surveillance-camera recordings existed showing the buses in which the students traveled. However, a witness who had remained silent because of threats agreed to cooperate with the investigation this year.

Ángela Buitrago, a member of the International Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, said this line of investigation had already been identified in 2015. In her view, the new information further strengthens earlier conclusions that state agencies were involved in the crime.

The press service of Enrique Peña Nieto, who was Mexico’s president from 2012 to 2018, has not yet commented on the matter.