Mexico: military officials arrested over Ayotzinapa massacre

Authorities in Mexico arrested last week at least three military officials for their involvement in the massacre and disappearance of a group of 43 students in 2014, a case that has since become known as the “43 from Ayotzinapa.” The information was confirmed by Mexico’s Deputy Security Minister, Ricardo Mejía. 

Mr. Mejía did not provide all the names and information but confirmed that one of the arrested was José Rodríguez Pérez, a retired general who served as the commander of the 27th infantry battalion in the city of Iguala, Guerrero state. Iguala was the last place where the students were seen alive. 

The new detentions follow official findings published in August by the Ayotzinapa Case Truth Commission, a task force created in 2018 by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador whose findings have overturned the previous official narrative around the massacres.

So far, the Commission’s reports have led to the detention of dozens of high-ranking officials, including former Prosecutor General Jesús Murillo Karam. 

Retired Gen. Rodríguez Pérez’s detention is notable. He is accused of ordering the slaying of six of the 43 students. Not all the students were killed at the same time, according to the Truth Commission, a version of events discrediting the Mexican state’s initial narrative. 

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