Parents of Ayotzinapa 43 Accuse Government of Stagnant Investigation

ByCésar Arellano García

This article by César Arellano García originally appeared in the April 26, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper, with photos by STRMnoticias.

Mexico City. Parents of the 43 missing students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in Guerrero stated that negotiations with the federal government have stalled, as there has been no progress in the investigations into the students’ whereabouts five months after the last meeting.

Isidoro Vicario, who is part of the legal team accompanying the parents, regretted that there was no response to the points raised by the families of the students in the meeting with the president, Claudia Sheinbaum, last November.

“Five months have passed. It was agreed that two months after the meeting we would sit down again to address the demands, including the return of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) to Mexico to support the investigations into the Ayotzinapa case, the release of the Army’s files, which include clear evidence of the whereabouts of their children, and the resumption of the interception of Army phone calls regarding the transfer of 17 students from the police station to the outskirts of Iguala. But they haven’t even formally given us a tentative date to hold another meeting with the President, because there is probably no new information to give the parents, and that is deplorable.”

This Sunday, the 139th Global Action for Ayotzinapa took place, where more than 250 people, according to figures from the capital’s police, marched from the Angel of Independence to the Hemiciclo a Juárez, to demand the safe return of the students who disappeared in September 2014 in Iguala, Guerrero.

During the march, they chanted various slogans. Upon arriving at the Anti-Monument to the 43 Disappeared Students, they held the traditional roll call of the missing students and remembered Daniel Solís, Julio César Nava, and Julio César Ramírez, who were murdered on the night of September 26, 2014. They also mentioned Aldo Gutiérrez, who remains in a coma after being shot in the head.

At the Hemiciclo a Juárez monument, Isidoro Vicario reiterated the urgent need for federal authorities to convene a new meeting with the parents. “For the federal government, maintaining the country’s positive image during the World Cup is a priority, but it relegates the issue of disappearances, homicides, and other social demands to a secondary position.”

He added that they will not allow the Ayotzinapa case to go unpunished. “We call on organizations to attend a National People’s Assembly on May 9 at the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College, where the activities to be carried out in the coming months will be planned.”

For her part, María de Jesús, the mother of one of the missing students, stated that they are waiting to be summoned to meet again with the federal government.