On behalf of SB con Ayotzinapa at the University of California, Santa Barbara, we express our indignation at the levels of violence and State repression currently taking place in Mexico. This declaration is inspired by the events related to the 43 missing students from the Escuela Normal “Raúl Isidro Burgos” in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero.
Through this public statement, we highlight the need for the Mexican government to act with urgency, efficiency and in the immediate interests of the oppressed. We also declare our solidarity with the families of the missing students, and with millions of Mexicans who have been subjected to State violence and daily acts of hostility in an ever-expanding militarized police state. We declare that Mexico has been and continues to be subjected to State-sponsored terrorism, where police brutality reflects the will of the ruling elites.
The events in Ayotzinapa are not isolated incidents, nor are they void of a historical context; Mexico continues to remember the numerous and consistent incidents of violence and repression it has endured. These instances range from the individualized murders of people who dare call out a government that is responsible for the levels of poverty and violence the country endures, the countless missing that have attempted to cross multiple borders, to the massacres of entire groups of students, activists, Indigenous people, women and more. We witnessed these events throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and as we witness the events in Ayotzinapa, we remember the events of Tlatelolco, Atenco and Piedras Blancas, amongst others.
On Nov. 7, government officials announced the discovery of human remains that arguably belong to the missing students. The circumstances under which the students disappeared are an outrage, to say the least, and the indifference and lack of transparency shown by government officials become apparent in their lack of efficient communication, and most recently, in Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s willingness to travel to China during this time of crisis. Enrique Peña Nieto’s silence speaks volumes of the state’s complicity in the actions that led to the disappearance of 43 missing students in Ayotzinapa.
The events taking place in Ayotzinapa are simply one example of the impunity under which the Mexican State deploys maximum force to silence any individuals or groups it labels as dissidents. With this in mind, we join millions of people worldwide as we too demand justice for Ayotzinapa.
What we are witnessing in Ayotzinapa is a form of State repression that parallels the repression witnessed in Ferguson, Missouri, and in Palestine; as we make connections between these communities, we feel inspired by the critical acts of solidarity demonstrated by those people who are most directly hurt by this repressive system, we see these solidarity efforts largely through social media. It is in this spirit of resistance and solidarity that we hope to bring light to some of the issues we endure locally in the communities located near UCSB.
On May 23, the Isla Vista community witnessed a terrible tragedy; many of us are still working on healing from the trauma of the incident. As a result of this tragedy, there have been proposals to increase police presence in this community. This is alarming, given that many of us are members of historically marginalized communities in the U.S., and we are aware that being perceived as dissidents, our communities are constantly vulnerable to hostile treatment at the hands of the local authorities. For every DUI checkpoint, for every increase in the UCSB and Santa Barbara police budget and for every added police officer in the area is a risk to the black and brown lives of the surrounding community.
This is why we call the Santa Barbara community, and the UCSB community in particular, to manifest our discontent and indignation at the Ayotzinapa events. The problems of state-produced violence, of militarized policing and of repression are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a global problem. We join millions of people worldwide as we urge the Mexican government to provide an efficient and speedy resolution to the families of the 43 missing students.
Today we remember the 43 students. Today we demand that they be found. Today we stand with our brothers in Ayotzinapa, with their relatives and with millions of Mexicans who loudly demand that peace be restored in the country. Today, we demand that the government find the following 43 students:
Abel García Hernández
Abelardo Vázquez Peniten
Adán Abrahám De La Cruz
Alexander Mora Venancio
Antonio Santana Maestro
Benjamín Ascencio Bautista
Bernardo Flores Alcaraz
Carlos Iván Ramírez Villareal
Carlos Lorenzo Hernández Muñoz
César Manuel González Hernández
Christian Alfonso Rodríguez Telumbre
Christian Tomás Colón Garnica
Cutberto Ortiz Ramos
Dorian González Parral
Emiliano Alen Gaspar De La Cruz
Everardo Rodríguez Bello
Felipe Arnulfo Rosa
Giovanni Galindo Guerrero
Israel Caballero Sánchez
Israel Jacinto Lugardo
Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempa
Jonás Trujillo González
Jorge Álvarez Nava
Jorge Aníbal Cruz Mendoza
Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño
Jorge Luis González Parral
José Ángel Campos Cantor
José Ángel Navarrete González
José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa
José Luis Luna Torres
Jhosivani Guerrero De La Cruz
Julio César Lopez Patolzin
Leonel Castro Abar
Luis Ángel Abarca Carrillo
Luis Ángel Francisco Arzol
Magdaleno Rubén Lauro Villegas
EN ESPAGÑOL:
SB con Ayotzinapa is an organization at UCSB that demands the return of the 43 missing Mexican students.
