Former Mexican Governor Charged in Disappearance of 43 Students: 'Ordered to Destroy Evidence'

Former Guerrero governor Ángel Aguirre has been charged with forced disappearance and obstruction of justice in the case of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa. He is suspected of ordering the destruction of security footage. A judge ordered him held in custody pending trial. His lawyer denies the charges. This is the most significant development since the 2022 arrest of the former attorney general. Remains of only three have been identified.

Mexico's attorney general's office has filed charges against Ángel Aguirre, former governor of Guerrero, for forced disappearance and obstruction of justice in the case of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teachers' college. Aguirre is suspected of ordering the destruction of security camera videos that could have shed light on the events of the night of September 26, 2014. Yesterday, a judge ruled that prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to proceed, and ordered him held in a secure prison until trial. Aguirre's lawyer, Guillermo Bardés, denied the allegations, claiming that the defense presented evidence that Aguirre was at a high-level meeting at the time the videos were allegedly handed over. The indictment is considered the most significant development in the investigation since the 2022 arrest of Jesús Murillo Karam, who served as attorney general at the time of the abduction. More than a decade later, remains of only three of the missing have been identified, and the fate of the other 40 remains unknown. The international investigation determined that federal forces were also involved, and that the then-government ran a complex cover-up, including torturing suspects to obtain false confessions and tampering with evidence. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has pledged to uncover the truth and established a dedicated investigation unit.