Students and Teachers Block Mexican Highway to Protest Disappearances

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico – A group of students and teachers blocked the Highway of the Sun in Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, to mark the two-month anniversary of the disappearance of 43 education students in the city of Iguala.

The protesters arrived at the Parador del Marques around 11:00 a.m. and blocked the highway, which links Mexico City to the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, in both directions.

The majority of the students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School and the members of the CETEG education union covered their faces and were armed with sticks.

Officials have tightened security in Chilpancingo in the past few hours and more Federal Police officers have arrived amid fears that the protest could turn violent.

On Sept. 26, municipal police opened fire on the young people, presumably following orders of the then-mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, killing six people and wounding another 25.

That night another 43 students were detained by police and handed over to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel, which allegedly killed and burned them to cover their tracks, according to the statements of three members of the criminal organization after their arrest.