Key facts
- Former Guerrero governor Ángel Aguirre has been arrested.
- Aguirre is accused of ordering the destruction of evidence in the 2014 disappearance of 43 students.
- The arrest follows new testimonies gathered this year.
- The case is considered a symbol of impunity and state involvement in cartel violence.
- The administration of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the case as a 'state crime'.
Mexican authorities have arrested Ángel Aguirre, the former governor of the southern state of Guerrero, for his alleged role in the 2014 disappearance of 43 students. The case, which has become a symbol of impunity and state complicity in cartel violence, saw Aguirre detained on accusations of concealing evidence related to the students' whereabouts.
Federal prosecutors stated that Aguirre, who served as governor from 2011 until his resignation in October 2014, one month after the students vanished, ordered the destruction of security camera footage and other evidence from the night of the attack. Attorney General Ernestina Godoy announced the arrest, citing new testimonies gathered this year that indicate Aguirre's direct involvement and that of high-level state officials in a "malicious operation."
The disappearance of the students, who had commandeered buses for a protest, shocked Mexico and the international community. Despite multiple investigations, arrests, and the description of the case as a "state crime" by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, key questions remain unanswered. Authorities believe the students were killed, but only fragments from three have been identified, and the motive is suspected to be linked to local heroin trafficking, with cartels allegedly colluding with security forces and various levels of government.
Under the current administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, new investigative avenues have been pursued, leading to Aguirre's arrest. This development marks one of the highest-profile arrests in the case, following that of former federal Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, who faces charges including forced disappearance and obstruction of justice.