137 Months Since Disappearance of the 43 of Ayotzinapa

ByAlexia Villaseñor and Jared Laureles

This article by Alexia Villaseñor and Jared Laureles originally appeared in the February 27, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

After the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) declared itself unable to form the “Truth Commission for the Iguala Case”, ordered by a collegiate court, the parents of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared more than 11 years ago criticized the national body, saying that “it is not on the side of the victims”.

Isidoro Vicario, the families’ lawyer, emphasized that the relevance of this truth commission – which stems from a ruling by a collegiate court in Reynosa, Tamaulipas – lies in the fact that it recognizes the parents of Ayotzinapa as victims and establishes that those who carry out the investigations are independent experts from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).

This represents a new opportunity, since currently the Commission for Truth and Access to Justice (COVAJ and the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Ayotzinapa case – established by presidential decree – “are not producing results,” they accused.

During a rally held at the Hemiciclo a Juárez, after marching from the Angel of Independence, María de Jesús Tlatempa, mother of José Eduardo Bartolo, insisted that the Army hand over the 800 files it has in its possession because they contain – she considered – relevant information to find the whereabouts of the disappeared.

In an interview, Vicario explained that the commission ordered by the collegiate court would have to be made up of a representative of the FGR; the head of the CNDH; and two parents of the students.

She indicated that since 2018, various entities “have opposed” complying with the sentence issued that year, including the FGR, which argued that the federal judge “overstepped his bounds”.

The CNDH indicated the impossibility of forming it, among other things because, it reported, a new complaint file is currently in the process of being concluded due to the dissatisfaction of the relatives of the disappeared students and surviving normal school students regarding the content of Recommendation 15VG/2018.

The parents stated that, to date, they have not received any further information about the investigations nor have they been notified when they will meet again with President Claudia Sheinbaum. Their last meeting was on November 27, 2025.

In Chilpancingo, residents allege neglect by authorities.

Students from the Ayotzinapa Normal School and the Lupita Rodríguez Collective held a rally yesterday at the anti-monument to the 43, in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, to demand justice and the safe return of their 43 classmates who disappeared in Iguala in 2014, and who have now been missing for 137 months.

One of the speakers pointed out that when rulers want to come to power, “they use the most marginalized population and take advantage of them, but then they forget about the population, as did former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who championed the movement of the 43.”

He recalled that “a few days ago, the government captured a major criminal leader and we ask ourselves: how is it possible that if they were able to find his whereabouts and capture him, they cannot find our 43 companions?”

They emphasized that their movement is not driven by partisan ideologies, but by the demand for justice: “We are neither left nor right, we are the people at the bottom, and we are going after those at the top.” They warned that they will maintain monthly mobilizations until they obtain clear answers and substantial progress in the Ayotzinapa case.

(With information from S. Ocampo Arista, correspondent, Chilpancingo, Guerrero.)

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