On April 26, activists and supporters gathered at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego to draw attention to the 43 missing students that attended the Raul Burgos Normal School in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero Mexico.
This date marks 43 months since the students went missing. One of the lead organizations, Raices Sin Fronteras (Roots Without Borders) called the protest in response to a global day of action to keep the pressure on the Mexican government to do something about the missing students and to provide answers.
The Raul Isidro Burgos Rural Teacher College that the missing students attended not only provides instruction on how to become an educator in the rural areas of Mexico to mostly Indigenous students, but also provides students much more. The education they receive is entirely free and was established after the Mexican revolution in order to provide literacy to those people living in the rural areas of Mexico. Many of these schools have been shut down and only a few remain. These schools are not only unique for the dedication to providing a free education, but they also provide all other needs for the students that live on the campus. The resources are very limited and many times the students have to help raise funds for the school, but they also participate in many other activities. The school has music and sports programs as well. What is most threatening to the ruling establishment in Mexico and the drug cartels they do business with is the Marxist-Leninist education that is emphasized in the curriculum. Many of the students in the schools come away with a critical analysis of the Narco-Capitalist State that is ruling Mexico at the moment. These students and their school refuse to accept the ruling order and attempt to raise the consciousness of those they come into contact with.
In San Diego, a growing diaspora of migrants from Oaxaca and the U.S. working-class recognize the strength in building unity across borders and chose to organize and participate in this day of action. Organizers created very large posters of each of the 43 students and placed them on both sides of the street directly in front of the Mexican Consulate as the staff and public were entering. Organizers also set up a sound system where speeches were given, and solidarity chants were shouted to disrupt the business as usual.
All progressive and revolutionary people should look forward to building more bridges across borders and continue to expose the contradictions that exist within capitalism within the United States and Mexico.
Vivos se los llevaron y Vivos los queremos! Alive they took them-Alive we want them back!
