Ayotzinapa Case: No evidence of Army involvement in the disappearance of the 43 students

On the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador exonerated the Army from alleged involvement in the events of the “Night of Iguala,” during which the students vanished.

“It is important to clarify that, although there is no evidence that the Army was involved in the students’ disappearance, we have taken action against the soldiers who may have been linked to organized crime,” he stated.

In his morning press briefing, López Obrador rejected the claims made by the families and lawyers of the 43 students, who argue that the military has not complied with orders to provide information. However, the president noted that some soldiers are being prosecuted, and if it is proven they were involved, there will be no impunity.

The Commander-in-Chief stressed that the military has cooperated and that his directive to General Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Secretary of National Defense, to ensure that implicated commanders did not flee, was followed.

“Who stands to benefit from a weakened Army, an institution stripped of authority, or from weakened national institutions like the presidency itself? Foreign powers, hegemonies, because a weak national authority is like a dry leaf—it cannot defend the nation’s interests,” López Obrador said.

Reading from a letter he sent to the families of the 43 students, the president expressed confidence that Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration would continue the investigation with integrity, ensuring that justice is served. He admitted that progress has been made, “not as much as we would have liked, but this is not a closed case.”

“I made a commitment to the families to search for the students until they were found. We worked on it tirelessly. Progress was made, not as much as we wanted, but the case is still open, and the investigation will continue,” he said.

In the letter, López Obrador mentioned that Gildardo López Astudillo, a member of the criminal group Guerreros Unidos, had agreed to cooperate by providing information in exchange for halting the extradition of a suspected member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to the United States, but he has since stopped collaborating.

Meanwhile, students from the Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College protested near the “+43″ anti-monument on Reforma Avenue in Mexico City, demanding results in the investigation of the missing students.

The last meeting between the president and the parents of the 43 students took place on August 27, during which they demanded more information about the military’s involvement in the case. Tensions arose between one of the primary lawyers and the president over his defense of the Army.

Nota publicada originalmente en El Heraldo de México