A Massacre in Mexico

On September 26, 2014, 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College went missing in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. En route to a protest, local police intercepted the students and a confrontation ensued. By the morning, they had disappeared without a trace.

Anabel Hernández reconstructs, almost minute-by-minute, the events of those nights in late September 2014, providing what is surely the most complete picture available. Her sources are unparalleled, as she has secured access to internal government documents that have not been made public, and to video surveillance footage the government has tried to hide and destroy.

Hernández demolishes the Mexican state’s official version, cynically dubbed the “historic truth” by the Peña Nieto government. As her research shows, state officials at all levels—from police and prosecutors to the upper echelons of the PRI administration—conspired to fabricate a fake case, concealing or manipulating evidence, and arresting and torturing dozens of “suspects” who then provided full “confessions” matching the official lie.

By detailing the role of various Mexican state agencies throughout the events, A Massacre in Mexico reveals with exacting precision who is responsible for each component of this monumental crime.