Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is under increasing pressure as public anger grows at the government's handling of the disappearance of 43 students in the state of Guerrero. Further protests were held last weekend following the announcement by the federal Attorney General's Office that three suspects admitted that the freshmen teacher training students had been slaughtered at a landfill near the town of Iguala.
Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam said the students were killed and their bodies burned before being placed in plastic bags and thrown into a river. During a press conference, he showed videos of the three suspects making their confessions.
The suspects, all members of a local drug gang, said the bodies were placed on a pyre, set on fire along with a mix of diesel fuel, tires, tree branches and plastic and burned beyond recognition for more than half a day.
Murillo said confirmation of the students' identities might take some time, as forensic tests would need to be done outside of Mexico.
He said investigators were now certain that on September 26 Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca ordered municipal police to detain the students – involved earlier in the day in a violent protest during which six people died – because he was concerned they would disrupt an event organized by his wife.
Police officers handed over the students to members of the local Guerreros Unidos gang, who took them to the garbage dump in the back of two cargo trucks, Murillo said.
After his press conference, Murillo met with family members of the missing students, some of whom later told reporters they would not acknowledge that their sons were dead until there was full scientific proof.
Rather than diminish public discontent at the government's handling of the case, the latest developments sparked further protests, mostly directed toward Peña Nieto and his administration.
In Acapulco Monday, protestors clashed with police as they blocked the resort's airport for three hours, while in Mexico City on Saturday masked demonstrators set fire to the wooden door of the presidential palace. Meanwhile, Mexicans in New York City held a solidarity rally in Union Square.
Reflecting the mood of the protest, demonstrators in Acapulco carried signs that said, "Peña Nieto, murderer. Stay in China," referring to his current trip to China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
The 43 students were mostly freshmen at the Teacher Training College in Ayotzinapa, an institution known for its militancy and catering mainly to the rural poor.