By Nancy Caouette
MEXICO CITY
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Mexico City on Monday to mark the four-month anniversary of the disappearance of 43 missing students.
From four separate starting points, protesters gathered at the main square of the Mexican capital, screaming for justice and for the students’ return.
Parents of the students who disappeared Sept. 26 in Iguala, Guerrero state, opened the march.
"We will carry on fighting until we find them, until the end," said Macedonia Torres, the mother of one of the students.
In four months since their disappearance, the relatives of the students say they have not found any sign of life of the students who disappeared after local police opened fired to quell a protest in which the students were demonstrating.
According to Mexico’s Attorney General, three detainees – presumed members of the Guerrero Unidos, or United Warriers, drug cartel – said the students were handed over to the gang and were then murdered, burned and their remains thrown in a dump in Cocula, a city 15 miles southwest of Iguala.
The then-mayor of Iguala and his wife have been charged in connection with the disappearances. Authorities believe the couple orchestrated the abductions and presumed murders of the students.
The investigation into the case has found deep connections between local officials and gangs and also forced the resignation of the governor of Guerrero state.
The relatives of the missing students, along with civil organizations, are asking for a continuation of the search for the students.
They have implicated the army in the abduction of the students and demanded an exhaustive investigation that would include questioning soldiers and federal police officers.
To date, the remains of one student has been formally identified through DNA tests.
Last week, authorities revealed that scientists from Innsbruck University in Austria, have been unable to positively identify the remains of bone fragments found in Cocula because they were severely burned.
The results of additional forensic tests are scheduled to be released in April.
