On September 21, parents of the 43 students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College, who disappeared in September
2014, demonstrated in front of the Military Camp No. 1 in the capital Mexico City.
Carrying large banners that read, “Where are our children,” “We are missing 43,” and “Because they were taken alive, we
want them back alive,” the parents demanded that the Mexican Armed Forces hand over all available information about the
mass kidnapping and disappearance of their loved ones.
The parents and relatives of the students, with the help of students from different rural colleges, set up outside the
camp and began an indefinite sit-in protest. They announced that they wouldn’t move until they received the information
withheld by the army. Human rights and grassroots movement organizations announced that they would support the parents
and provide them with food and other essentials in solidarity with their struggle.
Melitón Ortega, a spokesperson from the families of the disappeared students, said, “We do not come here to confront the
military, we come to tell them that they have a responsibility and a commitment that they have been denying.”
“We are here to demand that the army give us those documents that we need… All we want is to know the truth about their
whereabouts,” he added.