Mexicans Demand Safe Return of Students “Taken Alive” · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

15,000 march against disappearance of Ayotzinapa students, October 8, 2014, by Enrique Perez Huerta, Mexico City, Demotix.
Thousands in Mexico City protested against the disappearance of dozens of Ayotzinapa students from the coastal state of Guerrero on Wednesday, October 8.
Victims’ families experienced anguish anew this week, when authorities discovered 28 bodies (yet to be identified) in secret mass graves in Guerrero's southeast. Sadly, this kind of news is not unfamiliar in Mexico, especially after the two San Fernando massacres.
Protesters are demanding that students still alive be returned to their homes. Those who didn't survive must be found, as well, demonstrators say. As people took to the streets throughout the country, Mexico's netizens discussed the campaign on Twitter.
User Tania posted the following image from the protest's point of origin:
En el ángel se siente la hermandad y la indignación. @epigmenioibarra pic.twitter.com/4397Nojzt1
— Tania (@Tania_mafalda) October 8, 2014
At the Angel, you can feel the brotherhood and indignation. [Note: the Angel of Independence is a very recognizable landmark in Mexico City and has become a focal point for both celebrations and demonstrations.]
TuiteraMx (a user with more than 13,600 followers) declared:
El dolor por la desaparición de los normalistas es desmesurado. #Ayotzinapa pic.twitter.com/8iSp0m9qaQ
— TuiteraMx (@TuiteraMx) October 8, 2014
The pain for the missing “normalistas” [teaching students] is unmeasurable.
User Pau shared this set of images showing protests in various cities:
Protestan en Alemania, Noruega, Argentina y Bolivia x #Ayotzinapa #JusticiaParaAyotzinapa #TodosSomosAyotzinapa pic.twitter.com/Xksddi1iU0“
— ♥ Pau ♥ (@Pau_Mttl) October 8, 2014
Protests in Germany, Norway, Argentina, and Bolivia for Ayotzinapa. Justice for Ayotzinapa. We are all Ayotzinapa.
Mauricio Torres described the scene at the protest:
Los padres caminan al frente de la marcha, cargando una manta con los rostros de los 43 jóvenes desaparecidos.
— Mauricio Torres (@mau_torres) October 8, 2014
Parents are marching at the front, carrying a banner with the faces of the 43 missing youngsters.
Jordy M.Y. was particularly impressed by the rally's size:
Verdaderamente grande e impactante la marcha por #Ayotzinapa Siguen llegando contingentes a Reforma. pic.twitter.com/yojYBnyxsV
— Jordy M.Y. (@jordy_my) October 8, 2014
The protest for Ayotzinapa is truly big and impressive. More groups are arriving to Reforma [one of the main avenues in Mexico City].
Also, people from Buenos Aires, Argentina, showed their support for the protest:
#Ayotzinapa: solidaridad en la embajada mexicana en Buenos Aires, Argentina. vía @masde131 pic.twitter.com/CdIECON5I4
— ContingenteMX (@ContingenteMX) October 8, 2014
Ayotzinapa: Solidarity at the Mexican embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Dr. John M. Ackerman described the grassroots movement that has emerged since the students disappeared as:
Thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand justice for the dead as well as an increased role for society in politics and education.
For further details on the October 8 protest, as well as this story's latest developments, you can follow these hashtags: #Ayotzinapa, #AyotzinapaSomosTodos, #JusticiaParaAyotzinapa, and #JusticeForAyotzinapa.