Mexico

Ayotzinapa in ourheart

A police operation in September that left six students dead and 43 “disappeared” from the Ayotzinapa teacher training school has revealed to the world the rule of drugs in Mexico, the alliance between drug traffickers, drug-related businessmen and drug-related politicians that dominates the Mexican scene today. Pending a more complete report about this emblematic event, we’re reprinting the heartfelt words of Elena Poniatowska, who spoke before 100,000 people a month after the event. With that the names of these young people remain in “the book of life” and in the pages of envío.

Elena Poniatowska

Today, Sunday October 26, exactly a month into the absence of 43 young people who were disappeared from the Teacher Training School in Ayotzinapa by the Iguala Municipal police in the state of Guerrero, we are gathered here in the center of the country, the capital of Mexico, to demand the presence of those young men and cry out to the heavens: Return them to us!


The Teacher Training School in Ayotzinapa is poor but it’s the only place where those who have nothing can get a free higher education. It’s the only option for rural people who have chosen to be rural teachers. The students’ rooms in the Teacher Training School show the poverty and neglect these young people come from. So does their food. When they were served milk they exclaimed that this was the first time they had seen it and they smiled while saying they liked it. Just like the milk, there are other foods these young folks don’t know. Their shirts, book-bags, sweaters hung on the walls of their empty rooms and plastic cooking utensils are all things used by the poor.

It’s time in Mexico for the poor to speak up. It’s time for citizens to protest against the political parties. It’s time that we be consulted. Being consulted is a political right the inhabitants of the Mexican Republic’s 32 states have been demanding for a long time.

Thousands of us Mexicans who don’t feel represented want a participatory democracy. We raise our voices and ask to be taken into account in public affairs, especially on the most important national issues
such as the future of our energy sources. The big issues concern us all but they especially concern young people because they are the future and have to be able to survive. Without them there is simply no country. As the saying goes “Without corn there is no country” and without young people there’s nothing at all.

On Wednesday, October 23, in a march not called by any party, citizens organized themselves and inaugurated an exemplary protest totally out of the ordinary. It was five times larger than the media reported: 350,000 people, a river that continued flowing in, packing the streets bordering El Zócalo, the main square, itself overflowing. These multitudes were protesting the crime against humanity in Ayotzinapa.

In this crime students were hunted down, subjected to torture, including being tortured to death, forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily executed. Now those who are responsible want to free themselves of guilt by accusing the young people of criminal activities and connecting them with the GuerrerosUnidos and Los Rojos cartels.

Those 43 students went out to raise funds so they could study and we say about them that it’s not right that the police cut short their lives and left them lying in their own blood.

It’s not right to divert the investigation of the facts and let slip in press conferences that this is about a clash between cartels. It’s also not right to implicate the youth in guerrilla groups. The “Iguala case” is a terrible stain on our country’s official and political life, already buried by its own weight in mud.

The journalist ParísMartínez worked with family and friends to bring the profiles of the students to light. It’s right that we remember each one of these students, even if we can only do it with a few lines. Therefore, I ask that at the end of the name and the description of each young person that we say in unison, “Return him!” just as we did on June 5, 2009 when we shouted “Presente!” (Here!)” after the name of each of the 49 dead and 76 wounded children at the ABC Daycare Center in Hermosillo.

Jhosivani Guerrero de la Cruz, 20 years old, is from Omeapa. He is slender, with a thin face and slanted eyes, thus nicknamed “Korean.” He walked four kilometers each way to get to the road to take the bus because he wanted to be a teacher in his hometown.

Luis ÁngelAbarca Carrillo, 21 years old, is from Cuautepec, San Antonio on the Chica Coast. They call him “Amiltzingo.” He’s very affectionate, a member of the Activist House where teaching students can sign up to receive political education. The name Lucio Cabañas, a guerrilla fighter who was also a teacher, echoes in this house. The rich in the state of Guerrero see the teaching students as agitators because they seek to follow him. Among the 43 students kidnapped on September 26, 10 are members of the Activist House.

Marco Antonio Gómez Molina, 20 years old, is from Tixtla and called “Tuntún.” He likes rock music, especially “Saratoga,” “Extravaganza” and “Los ÁngelesdelInfierno.” This young man makes others in the Activist House laugh.

Saúl Bruno García, 18 years old, is known as “Chicharrón” and is a wild one. He’s very friendly and a jokester, one of those who tries to make you laugh as much as possible. He’s from Tecuanapa and is missing his left-hand ring finger because it was eaten by a grinder when he was making tortillas. He shaved off everyone’s hair at the Activist House. A friend had photos of the incident on his cellphone but the police took it.
Jorge Antonio TizapaLegideño, 20 years old, is from Tixtla. According to his mother he has a dimple just in his left cheek. He likes to work in the fields and plant grains and vegetables because the government funding for the 500 training school students is never enough.

Abel García Hernández, from Tecuanapa, is a 19 year-old country boy with a birthmark behind his right ear. He’s thin and under 5 ft. 4 inches tall.

Carlos Lorenzo Hernández Muñoz, 19 years old, was baptized “El Frijolito” by his friends. He’s from the coast, talkative and always ready to help people. He was the first to step forward to donate blood when asked in Tixtla to help a sick person.

Adan Abraján de la Cruz is 20 years old from the neighborhood of El Fortin in Tixtla, a community that takes care of its community police. He’s on El Fortin’s soccer team, The Pyrotechics, and his friends consider him a good soccer player.

Felipe Arnulfo Rosa, a 20-year-old peasant from a little farm from the municipality of Ayutla. As a small child he fell backwards and has a scar on his neck.

Emiliano Alen Gaspar de la Cruz, whom they nicknamed “Pilas” for his intelligence, never makes problems, is calm and thinks things through better than the others. He likes to have everything in place. He was one of the first 20 students to join the Activist House two months ago.

César Manuel González Hernández, 19 years old, is rather wild. His nickname is “Panotla” but he’s also called “Marinela” because once in Jalisco he took off with the truck from the company that makes little pastries.

Jorge Alvarez Nava, 19 years old, is called El Chabelo and comes from the town of Juan R. Escudero in Guerrero. He has a scar over his right eye. He’s very easygoing, never gets upset, never swears and is so patient he’s never disrespectful to anyone. He’s one of the most sensitive students at the Activist House. His parents are now waiting in the sports arena at the Ayotzinapaschool and hold each other whenever they speak of him.
José Eduardo Bartolo, “Tlatempa,” is 17 years old and from Tixtla. He’s in his first year at the Teacher Training School. His father is a bricklayer by trade and hopes his son will be a professional.

Israel Jacinto Lugardo, 19 years old, is from Atoyac. His friends call him “Chukyto.” His mother holds a poster with her son’s face and showed it to the drivers when they took over the stand during a protest
at Palo Blanco on the highway. He’s somewhat robust, is dark-skinned with a flat nose and has a scar on his head . He’s a good kid and came with a lot of hopes to study.

Antonio Santana Maestro, nicknamed “Copy” because he speaks well in public, is well known at the Activist House. “Copy” plays guitar and also likes video games and the PlayStation Portable, but what he likes most is reading.

Christian Tomás Colón Garnica, 18 years old, is from Tlacolula in Matamoros, Oaxaca. His father came to Iguala from his home as soon as the kidnapping of the 43 young men was announced. He says, “I am a day laborer and I earn no more than 600 pesos ($22) a week and only when there’s work because often there is none. My son wants to be a teacher. That’s the profession he wants but they stopped him. What are we going to do?”

Luis Ángel Francisco Arzola, 20 years old, is called “Cochilandia” by his school mates but nobody knows why; he already had that nickname when he arrived at the teaching school. He’s a serious hard-working boy, and everyone is here waiting for him. They want him to know they’re not going to stop until they find him.

Miguel Ángel Mendoza Zacarías, from Apango in the municipality of Mártir de Cuilapa, is 23 years old so his school mates, all of are between are between 17 and 20, consider him “already grown.” In his hometown of Apango he was a hairdresser so he could get ahead in life. He’s short, called “chido” by his friends because he helps them, gives them advice and everything, expecting nothing in return. He took care of his parents and siblings. He shared a seat on the bus to the teaching school with a friend who recounts that “when they started shooting, he unfortunately ran in one direction and I in the other and the Iguala police arrested him and I was able to escape. Since then I can’t find him.”

BenjamínAscencio Bautista, 19 years old, is called “Comelón”(Big Eater) because one day he finished off all the cookies on the table during a meeting. He’s originally from Chilapa and before coming to the Ayotzinapa teaching school he was a community educator with the National Educational Development Council (CONAFE), where volunteers are trained to teach literacy courses to marginalized, isolated, rural and indigenous populations throughout the country.

Alexander Mora Venancia, 19 years old, is from El Pericon in the municipality of Tecuanapa, Guerrero. No one could dissuade him from the idea of being a teacher. He likes giving classes. At first he helped with the farming but he wanted to study. His father says, “I demand that the authorities do their work as they should and not cover up for those responsible for the massacre committed by the Iguala police and the mayor. Just as they took them away alive, I want the authorities to return them alive.”

Leonel Castro Abarca, a young man from the farming community of El Magueyito in the municipality of Tecuanapa. He has no nickname and his friends consider him a serious person but with a sense of humor. He dreams of being a teacher so he can help his people move forward.

Everardo Rodríguez Bello, 21 years old, is from Omeapa. He’s known as “Shaggy” because he looks like Scooby Doo. He studied to be a car mechanic in the state of Mexico’s National Professional Educational College. He gets really angry about inequalities – especially when it has to do with food. “If they give you six tortillas and him only five, protest.”

Doriam González Parral, from Xalpatláhuac, Gerrero, is 19 years old. He’s short and looks like a child so they call him “Kinder.” He’s quite funny when he relaxes. He has a brother in the teaching school. They both entered the program together, are well-known for their close relationship and were kidnapped together.

Jorge Luis González Parral is 21 years old and the older brother of Doriam, the “Kinder.” He’s a serious boy who has worked in different taco restaurants and though he liked this work he chose to be
a teacher, just like his younger brother. His nickname is “Charra” because he has a scar on his leg that looks like it was made by a knife.

Marcial Pablo Baranda is 20 years old, speaks an indigenous language and wants to be a bilingual teacher and work side by side with other bilingual teachers who come from towns even poorer than his. He’s short, a nice guy, cousin of Jorge Luis and Doriam. His friends call him “Magallón” because his family has a musical group by that name that sings songs in the Costa Chica area where they live. He sings cumbia songs and plays the trumpet and drums.)

Jorge Aníbal Cruz Mendoza, from Xalpatláhuac, hangs out with “Kinder” and his brother. They call him “Chivo” and he’s serious though he gets along well with the others and almost never gets into trouble.

Abelardo Vásquez PenitenisfromAtliaca, Guerrero. He likes soccer and scored a lot of goals on his team a little while ago. He never gets into trouble and is well respected because he never disrespects or criticizes anyone. Besides soccer he adores studying because he gets one book and then another and another and another.

Cutberto Ortiz Ramos, from Atoyac, is called “El Komander” because he has a certain likeness to the Mexican singer. He has a strong face, is robust, tall, friendly and responds in a good way. He always wants to be in the school’s fields growing crops. He loves to tell Sponge Bob jokes in which he exactly imitates the Sponge Bob smile.

Bernardo Flores Alcaraz, who is 21 years old, is from the countryside and has a birth mark on his chest like a cat’s.paw. He has great hopes of being a teacher and helping children and older adults who don’t know how to read or write. Many people in the countryside lag behind in education and his hope is to teach them.

Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempais from Tixtla. Nicknamed “El Churro,” he’s 21, the oldest of four brothers and the only support for his mother, according to his cousin, who walked five hours holding up a sign with his picture, and protested with great fury. His cousin is also asking for justice for the boys of Tlatlaya, many of whom have also been disappeared. Jesús is a very honorable youth who supports a one-year old niece because his sister is a single mother and he’s taken on the role of a father figure. They invited him to the fundraising campaign that September 26, to hold cans out to drivers asking for money for their school fees.

Mauricio Ortega Valerio, fromMatlalapa (orMatlinalpa) near La Montaña. He’s 18 years old and nicknamed “Espinosa” because when they shaved his head—a tradition in the Ayotzinapa Teaching School for entering students—he bore a certain resemblance to Espinosa Paz, the singer.

Martín Getsemany Sánchez García, who is from Zumpango, is 20 years old. He likes to play soccer and follows the Cruz Azul team. His whole family is looking for him. He has eight siblings and during the march in Chilpancingo on the 22nd, his relatives carried a banner with his photograph.

Magdaleno Rubén Lauro Villegas, 19 years old, is known as “El Magda.” He’s a quiet, honorable kid who’s studying to be a bilingual teacher so he can give classes to indigenous children who don’t speak Spanish.

Giovanni Galindo Guerrero, 20 years old, is known as “The Spider” because he’s so thin and has his own way of running and jumping as though he were hanging from a web just like Spider Man.

José Luis Luna Torres, 20 years old, is from Amilzingo, Morelos. His friends call him “Duck” because he looks like Donald Duck and has a duck-sounding voice. He’s serious, calm and always speaks well of people—a good person but quiet and doesn’t make much trouble.

Julio Cesar LópezPatolzin is 25 years old, from Tixtla and doesn’t have a nickname. They just call him “El Julio.” He’s a good person, although very quiet. He doesn’t get into trouble, only hangs out with a few others but is always friendly.

Jonás Trujillo González is from Costa Grande del Ticui in the municipality of Atoyac. They call him “Beni” because his brother is also in the Ayotzinapa Teaching School but in second year and his brother’s name is Benito, so they are “The Benis.” He’s tall, a little on the fat side and gets along well with his brother. The two look very much alike, although the younger one is taller and lighter skinned.

Miguel Ángel Hernández Martínezis 27 years old and they call him “Botita” (The Little Boot) because his older brother also studies at the teaching school and they call him “El Bota”(The Boot) so they automatically called Miguel “Little Boot” although he is medium height and stocky. He is not at all a trouble-maker but rather sociable, healthy and easygoing. He’s not a jokester but a good guy who extends a helping hand to others—a kid who sticks up for others and explains things to the teacher in class to make him stop.

Christian Alfonso Rodríguez, 21 years old, is from Textla, aspires to be a teacher and likes folkloric dance. They call him “Hugo” because he always wears Hugo Boss t-shirts. His cousin ended up hoarse in the march on Wednesday the 22nd because he explained so often that, “he’s not just my cousin, he’s also my friend. He’s very hard-working and very dedicated to his studies and dance and it’s not right that someone who’s so committed and tries so hard should suffer tragic consequences at the hands of the government.”

José Ángel Navarrete González is 18 and shares a room at the schoolwith two other young men in which there’s not a stick of furniture, not even a bed; only tattered sheets of foam rubber.

Carlos IvánRamírez Villarreal is 20 years old. They call him “Little Devil” but the truth is he’s good kid. He doesn’t mess with anyone, is calm, wants to make something of himself and never clowns around.

José Ángel Campos Cantor is from Tixtla. At 33 years old he’s the oldest of all the 43 disappeared students but even so he never takes advantage of them. On the contrary he gives support and is a friend to everyone.

Israel Caballero Sánchez hails from Atliaca, a small town halfway between Tixtla and Apango. They call him “Aguirrito” because he’s a little fat. He’s preparing to be a teacher in indigenous communities and when his friends call him by his nickname he protests, “Don’t be buttheads and call me that stupid name.”

The country is hemorrhaging Ayotzinapa is destroyed. Mexico is destroyed. The students at the Ayotzinapa Teaching School are saving the broken sneakers, clothes and even the cardboard boxes their companions used for beds. They’re awaiting their return even though several witnesses have told the extraordinary priest Alejandro Solalinde, a protector of migrants who performs mass in Ayotzinapa, that the students have been murdered, dismembered and thrown into a ditch and their bodies set fire and burned.There is no sufficient answer in the face
of such a heinous crime. The photo of Julio César Mondragón, the student from the state of Mexico, whose eyes were removed and his face ripped apart, circulated on the Internet. We’re in a national catastrophe.

There are demonstrations in support of the 43 disappeared students in five of the states in Mexico. The country is hemorrhaging. The international community is shocked and now considers Mexico the most dangerous place for youth of any country not at war. Young people mutilated, youths without bodies, murdered youths. The indignation resounds around the world. The mother of Ricardo Esparza, the student who attended Guadalajara’s Cervantino School, said she was grateful to receive her son’s dead body so she could take him flowers. Isn’t this accommodation monstrous? Or as Gloria Muñoz Ramírez asks, “How far has the terror reached that the government has implanted in our society?”Faced with this terror there’s only the uniting of a people who raise their voice as in the past days with the cry, “You took them alive and we want them back alive!”

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