To Friends Everywhere: September 26th marks the first anniversary of the horrific enforced disappearance of 43 students from the rural Ayotzinapa teaching college in Guerrero, Mexico. We carry a heavy weight, as hopes for justice seem increasingly dim. Yet we continue to raise our voices alongside the parents and classmates in remembrance.
The students’ disappearance was part of a disturbing pattern of violence and historic repression by the Mexican government against protestors, students, journalists and human rights defenders. This is not just a “Mexican problem,” but one that is directly influenced by the United States’ war on drugs, U.S. neoliberal economic policies, and global tensions around issues of race and class, which includes police brutality against black people in the U.S.
We demand answers, transparency, and an end to impunity Let’s stand in solidarity with those who work for justice, not only for the 43 young men of Ayotzinapa, but also for the tens of thousands of people disappeared, imprisoned, or murdered this past year. Let’s not forget.
– Hayley Hathaway and Daniel Otero, Casa de los Amigos, Mexico City (PYM)