The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, came out this Monday in defense of the Army after the dissemination of new information on the role of the military in the disappearance and concealment of the bodies of 43 students in 2014 and ruled out that the arrests of some officers could affect the institution.
A few hours before a march begins in the Mexican capital for the anniversary of the disappearances of the students from the Ayotzinapa normal school, in the city of Iguala, state of Guerrero, López Obrador affirmed that the Army has contributed to the entire investigation. .
During his morning conference, the president said that the four soldiers arrested in the case, including a retired general, must assume their responsibility, but he maintained that “this does not mean that the entire institution is responsible.”
López Obrador attributed the attacks on the Army to actions that seek to discredit him.
In his six-year term, López Obrador has given the military an increasing number of tasks, which include the construction of emblematic works such as the new airport in the Mexican capital and a train in the south of the country, the management of customs and airports and the distribution of vaccines.
In the last two months, the president promoted legislative initiatives to transfer the National Guard to the Army, which Congress approved this month, and extend the permanence of the military outside the barracks, a reform that failed to advance in the Senate.
In the middle of this month, three soldiers were arrested, including retired General José Rodríguez Pérez, who was the commander of the 27th Infantry Battalion of Iguala when the disappearances occurred. To date, four members of the Army have been arrested for the Ayotzinapa case.
Rodríguez Pérez, who faces a process for organized crime, was mentioned by the Undersecretary for Human Rights and head of the Truth Commission, Alejandro Encinas, as the alleged person responsible for the death of six of the 43 students.
According to the report of the Truth Commission, which was published this weekend in its entirety by the local newspaper Reforma, there are telephone messages that reveal that there were soldiers who manipulated and hid the presumed remains of the students in the facilities of the Iguala battalion. .
When asked about the decision made by the Attorney General’s Office to withdraw 21 arrest warrants for the case, including those of 16 soldiers, López Obrador replied that these measures will be investigated and admitted that “there are differences”, but did not delve into the matter. that point. “This does not mean that the investigation will continue,” he added.
After the controversy that was generated by the publication of the content of the Commission’s report by Reforma, López Obrador affirmed that there was “bad faith” in that action, but he maintained that “things should not be hidden” and stated that it must be review why parts of the report were withheld when it was released to the press last month.
The official ruled out that the leak of the report could affect the judicial processes for alleged violation of due process and indicated that a procedural issue cannot prevent justice from being done. “We are not going to stop demanding punishment from those responsible,” he insisted.
The case of Ayotzinapa, which has become a symbol in a country with more than 100,000 disappeared and where high levels of impunity, corruption and violence prevail, took a turn in August after the Truth Commission released a new report of the case.
Shortly after the presentation, the Attorney General’s Office announced that it had issued 83 arrest warrants and former Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam was arrested. Last weekend it was learned that the Public Ministry withdrew 21 of those 83 orders.
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