Families mark 12 years since Ayotzinapa disappearance with march to Zocalo

Families of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students marched from the Angel of Independence to Mexico City's Zocalo on Saturday, marking 12 years since the September 2014 disappearances in Iguala, Guerrero. Around 6,000 people joined the procession, which paused at the Antimonumento +43 for a roll call of the missing students' names.

Attorney General Ernestina Godoy announced a new progress report would be presented on September 28 by special prosecutor Mauricio Pazarán and human rights undersecretary Félix Arturo Medina. The report is expected to address new investigative lines, including the August arrest of former Guerrero governor Ángel Heladio Aguirre Rivero on charges of concealing evidence.

“We are filled with anger because we have not been able to advance and have information on the whereabouts of the 43.”

Protesters' central demand remains access to Mexican Army archives, which families believe could reveal the students' fate and establish military responsibility. Lawyer Isidoro Vicario Aguilar urged peaceful continuation of the march, while father Melitón Ortega emphasized the protest's non-violent nature and the demand for the students' return alive.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) called for preserving investigative advances, accelerating the search, and probing the chain of political command and possible military links to criminal groups. The CIDH noted that several parents have died without seeing justice, including Francisco Rodríguez Morales this year.

Granadero riot police were deployed along the route to contain demonstrators. Infobae reported clashes at several points during the march, though other outlets described the mobilization as largely peaceful.