The disappeared ones

Taken from an Oct. 31 audio column from prisonradio.org

In Mexico, fires are burning. I mean this metaphorically and literally.

For thousands of youth feel the heated indignation against their corrupt government, as shown by their Oct. 13 protest and the firing of government buildings in Chilpancingo, Guerrero State, Mexico.

Why did they set the buildings ablaze?

They were marking the deadline when government officials were told to return some 43 students, who were arrested and taken away by corrupt cops.

In September, the 26th and 27th, local police in Iguala, Guerrero, opened fire on three busloads of students from a rural teacher-training school at Ayotzinapa.

Six people — three students and three passersby — were killed and 25 people were wounded.

The 43 students were hustled into police vehicles and haven’t been seen since.

Every day since then, protests, marches and highway blockades have rocked the city, demanding the safe return of the 43 students. The protests against brutal, terrorist police and government corruption have only gotten hotter, as the events of Oct. 13 have shown us.

On Oct. 22, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated for the students’ return all over Mexico and around the world.

These students came from rural districts across Mexico, to where the children of poor campesinos could get good educations and become teachers.

But Mexico, as too the U.S, is under neoliberalism’s spell, which seeks to abolish these schools, which date from the 1930s.

Why? Because these schools challenge the hegemony of neoliberals by teaching kids to think critically and question the ways of the world.

The neoliberal government responded to protests with police massacres and now, the disappearance of dozens of students. But protests continue more militant than ever!

It is interesting and telling that when Islamists snatched and kidnapped hundreds of girls in Nigeria, the media world went wild.

When corrupt, brutal cops massacred students and then kidnapped 43 students and refused to tell their whereabouts, the neoliberal, corporate press goes dark.

In Mexico, the struggle and the demand for the students’ safe return continues. La lucha sigue!