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In Mexico, Protesters Demand Return Of 43 Missing Students

A student of Guerrero State carries a portrait of a disappeared person, during a protest in Mexico City, on Wednesday.
Ronaldo Schemidt
/
AFP/Getty Images
A student of Guerrero State carries a portrait of a disappeared person, during a protest in Mexico City, on Wednesday.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Mexico to demand the return of 43 students who went missing after a confrontation with police. As we reported, authorities later found 28 bodies in a mass grave near the town of Iguala.

Officials said the graves were connected to the missing students, but they have not been able to identify the bodies.

Reporting from Mexico, NPR's Carrie Kahn filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"Teachers, students and activists blocked a major highway outside the capital of the southern state of Guerrero Wednesday to protest the students' disappearance and what they say is an inadequate investigation into the case.

"Carrying a banner that read, "Who governs Guerrero?" the protesters demanded that authorities find the missing students.

"Some demonstrators wore black hoods and took to the streets of Mexico City.

"According to state officials the students were abducted by police in the town of Iguala, Guerrero. Prosecutors say the police were working on orders from a local drug gang. Twenty-two police officers have been arrested. The mayor and chief of police are being sought for questioning."

The Mexican news site Animal Politico posted videos and images of the protest in Mexico City. They showed demonstrators carrying pictures of the missing college students and signs that read: "Enough of the dead and missing."

This video shows demonstrators demanding: "Where are they? Where are they?"

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.