Connexions Calendar

Partners in Crime: The Mexican state, North American Capitalism, and the 43 Missing Students

December 12, 2014

The signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement came with the promise of prosperity and jobs for all and the extension of human rights. These are, it needs hardly saying, promises unkept.

On September 26, 2014, over 100 students from a rural teacher's college were passing through the nearby town of Iguala in Guerrero en route to a demonstration in Mexico City. Three were killed along with three bystanders and 43 are still missing. The families of the students continue to demand that their children be returned alive.

The search for the students has unearthed a number of mass graves and has lead to an eruption of protests across the country. The parents of the missing students have traveled throughout the country meeting with communities that have also experienced killings and disappearances. The family insists it was not simply a local occurrence but something that happens in many places, and that the responsibility lies with the state.

The incident has highlighted this ongoing problem in the country - exceedingly high rate of disappearances and murders related both to the drug war and the state's attempt to suppress opposition to neo-liberal reforms, reforms which have been intensified under the current Peña Nieto regime.

Despite the human rights violations and repression by the state, the U.S. continues to praise the Mexican President and fund the drug war. Canada is also complicit in backing the state and pushing for business-friendly policies.

Time: 7.00pm to 09.30 pm
Venue: 612 Markham Street
Location: Toronto
Website: http://beitzatoun.org/event/partners-in-crime/
Categories: Human Rights, Law, Legal

Donate or Volunteer