海角大神

Major step in missing students case: Mexico detains fugitive mayor and wife

Former Mayor Jos茅 Luis Abarca and his wife, suspected of being masterminds in the disappearance of 43 college students, were taken into federal custody this morning. The unsolved case has attracted global attention.

The Mexican government鈥檚 capture of the former mayor of Iguala and his wife 鈥� suspected of being the masterminds behind the late September kidnapping of 43 college students 鈥� is being seen as a crucial step in showing citizens and the international community that Mexico is taking this case seriously.

Former Mayor Jos茅 Luis Abarca and his wife, Mar铆a de los 脕ngeles Pineda, were taken into federal custody in an early morning operation. No shots were fired. They were found at in the working-class Mexico City neighborhood of Iztapalapa, El Universal reports.聽

The federal police spokesman, Jos茅 Ram贸n Salinas, confirmed their capture on Twitter.

"The detention of the ex mayor of Iguala and his wife is a crucial advance in the search for our young [students]," recently appointed Guerrero Mayor Rogelio Ortega Mart铆nez wrote on Twitter.

The government is under increasing pressure to find the students: Sometimes-violent protests have spread across Mexico and to cities around the world, and a week-long march from Iguala to Mexico City is under way. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the disappearances and called on the government to find the students and protect their families. Some have questioned whether the international body should take over the investigation.

President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto has been criticized for his delayed response聽and his focus on trumpeting Mexico鈥檚 positive economic message at the expense of tackling issues of violence and crime. The case has exposed the nexus of organized crime, local officials, and the police.

鈥淚f a government鈥檚 response is 鈥業鈥檒l look away and hope this resolves itself,鈥� that doesn鈥檛 give much confidence,鈥� Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of Americas in Washington, D.C., told 海角大神 last week. The government has let this case 鈥渟pin out of control and has not gotten on top of it in an effective way,鈥� Mr. Farnsworth says.

On Sept. 26, a group of students from a radical, rural teachers college, the Raul Isidro Burgos Ayotzinapa Normal School, commandeered several buses to take them home from Iguala, in the southern state of Guerrero. Mr. Abarca and Ms. Pineda apparently believed the students were headed to disrupt a public presentation they鈥檇 organized, and sent in the police to stop them.

Six people, including three students, were killed when the police shot at the students, and witnesses saw the others taken into custody. The students haven鈥檛 been seen since, and Abarca and Pineda went missing soon after the reported abduction.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said late last month that Pineda was 鈥渢he main operator of criminal activities鈥� in Iguala, and that her family had ties to local organized crime group the Guerreros Unidos.

Forensic teams have uncovered multiple clandestine graves and the government has put nearly 60 people in custody related to the disappearance. There is still no trace of the students, who many presume dead, despite public proclamations of hope from the families of the disappeared.聽

Iguala's ex-police chief,聽Felipe Flores Vel谩zquez, who is also implicated in the mass abduction, is still a fugitive.聽