Importance of political transparency emphasized by trauma
The notion of political transparency and police accountability has come under fire recently in Mexico and around the world. The questionable actions of Rob Ford while in office, Prime Minister Harper’s dealings with the Chinese Government over the Oil Sands, and President Obama’s circumvention of the American Constitution in the name of fighting terrorism have brought the importance of political transparency to the forefront of public discussion. The idea of police accountability became a hot topic after riots in Missouri following the recent killing of yet another young black male, just two months after the well-documented riots after the death of Michael Brown, by an off-duty police officer.
However, lost in the uproar of all these events is perhaps one of the most heinous examples of corrupt police and politician behaviour in the world, of which very few people seem to be aware.
43 students from an all-male teachers college in the Southern Mexican town of Iguala went missing mid-September, following a radical protest in attempts to raise money for funding their studies. After the students seized a bus to try and drive back to their college, the police were called in to handle the protests. Police responded by firing into the crowd, killing six protesters and injuring another 25.
Afterwards, the students were escorted into police cruisers, which is the last anybody has seen or heard of them.
The story escalated at the beginning of October, when a mass grave of 28 bodies was discovered just outside the Iguala city limits, with several bodies identified as some of the missing students. The mass grave was discovered after two hit-men confessed to being hired by police to execute 17 individuals at the location outside of the city. The whereabouts of the remaining missing students remains a mystery.
So far, 22 police officers have been arrested for their participation in the disappearance of these students.
The Mayor of Iquala, Jose Luis Abarca, and his wife have disappeared after requesting a leave of absence from their duties last week.
The pair, dubbed the “Imperial Couple” by a Mexican newspaper, are known for the iron fist they used to control the town. It has also been speculated that the Mayor is on the Cartel’s payroll, receiving $155,000 per week to allow them to run contraband through the city.
In further incriminating matters, the Mayor’s wife is an adversary of the teachers college, and on the night of the students’ disappearance, she had been hosting an event, which the police had been given strict orders to not allow anything to disturb.
Mrs. Abarca also has two brothers who are known members of the local Guerreros Unidos gang – the same gang hired as hit-men to execute the students.