Mexico: Parents of missing students plan strong, decisive action

Mexico City, Dec 9 (IANS/EFE) Parents of the 43 Mexican students missing since almost three-and-half months continue to refuse to believe that their children were killed and incinerated in a garbage dumpster, and have vowed to carry out protests demanding they be returned alive.

Monday, the parents travelled to the home of Ezequiel Mora Chora, the father of Alexander Mora Venancio, one of the missing students whose remains were positively identified by an Austrian forensic laboratory.

Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo confirmed that the DNA, taken from one of the 17 charred skeletal remains recovered from the site where the students' bodies were reportedly burned, was that of Alexander.

Murillo said the positive DNA identification, coupled with other evidence and statements by the accused, could help reinforce a faithful reconstruction of the incident.

According to the attorney general's office, the 43 students from Ayotzinapa teacher training school were detained by local police Sep 26 following a violent altercation.

Police handed the students over to members of the Guerreros Unidos crime cartel who killed them, burned the bodies and disposed of the remains.

But the parents refuse to believe the story and are demanding the return of their children alive.

The parents' spokesperson Felipe de la Cruz said Alexander's remains were planted and the authorities know where they came from.

De la Cruz warned that the parents would take strong and decisive action, including staging highway blockades, if their demands were not met.

The parents would continue pushing their demands because they believed the investigations carried out by the authorities have been insufficient and have inconsistencies, Abel Barrera, Human Rights Centre director, told Spanish news agency Efe.

They also want those who were reportedly involved in the incident, such as local security officials, to be tracked down and arrested, and investigations opened into the possible involvement of the former governor of Guerrero state where the deaths occurred.

--IANS/EFE

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