In September 2014, the Mexican police opened fire on
buses carried students from the college of Ayotzinapa to the city of
Mexico. They were about to take part, like every year, in a gathering
dedicated to the memory of 400 students that were assassinated in
1968 in the capital, ten days before the premiere of the Olympic
Games. They would return with the same buses.
Six students died instantly and dozens injured from the
assault by the police. Then, the police evacuated two buses, captured
43 students and transported them to an unknown location with police
cars. Since then, there are no signs of them. The government claims
that the 43 students were kidnapped by the local police which
cooperates with drug dealers. Yet, it has not given any adequate
explanation about the motives of the kidnappers and information about
the location of the bodies of those who have been murdered.
With the case shocking Mexico, an international
committee of experts was called to begin investigations. Yet, from
the first week, the members of the committee started to complain
about the constant barriers put by the government, as well as, some
threats they received. A few days ago, it has been revealed that the
phones of the committee members have been intercepted with Pegasus, a
very expensive system bought by the Mexican government from Israel
with dozens of million dollars. The same software was used for the
interception of the most important intellectuals, lawyers,
journalists, and their families.
It is obvious that the government is greatly responsible
for the tragedy and tries to cover its responsibilities. However, as
it happens to be one of the beloved of the global markets, the
international noise around this case is very low. There were no
resolutions in the European Parliament and the UN, nor any
denouncements against the Mexican government from international
leaders-organizations, nothing. Can you imagine what would have
happened in case that in Venezuela of Maduro, 43 students had
disappeared for three years after the cold blood murder and injury of
dozens of their fellow students?
I do not in any way imply that offenses against human
rights, either by the Mexican or Venezuelan government, should be
counterbalanced. But when Europeans and domestic politicians deal
with international issues, they have to take into account the
geopolitical environment, culture and history of the countries to
which they refer.
In Mexico, over 100,000 have been murdered and about
30,000 have disappeared over the last decade. These are victims of
the war on drugs, but also of the degeneration of the value of human
life in a continent tortured extensively by colonialism, before being
converted into a backyard of the United States. Before we make
another resolution on Venezuela or Cuba, it is a good idea to read
Eduardo Galeano's excellent book "Open Veins of Latin America".
It is also a good idea for summer reading ...
Article
by Stelios Kouloglou under the title 'After Venezuela, should we vote
for Mexico too?', translated from the original source:
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