On Thursday, Mexican authorities arrested retired judge Lambertina Galeana Marín, 79. This arrest is a significant development in the ongoing investigation into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from a rural teaching college in Guerrero, Mexico. Marín, the former president of the Superior Court of Justice of Guerrero, is being investigated. It’s a serious charge, and ambivalence here could lead her to fail in her duty to the evidence in this extraordinarily high-profile case that has fascinated the nation for years.
For many in Mexico, the case continues to cast a long shadow. Almost nine years later, the families of those 43 students are still looking for justice. Notably, in August of 2022, authorities announced arrest warrants for military commanders, police officers, and multiple judicial officials in Guerrero. Even then, they failed to name the individuals purportedly involved. A 2022 federal study found that the disappeared students were victims of “crimes of the state.” This disturbing discovery throws the whole idea of accountability into serious question.
Felipe de la Cruz, a spokesperson for the parents of the disappeared students, highlighted the ongoing challenges faced in their quest for justice. He’s noted that a “pact of silence still reigns” in the space. Federal law compounds the challenge of finding out what happened to the missing. De la Cruz emphasized the necessity for continuous investigation, asserting, “For us, it is very important that first of all, the investigation continues, and that work continues to be done.”
In 2014, the case got tangentially more complicated. Members of an independent panel of specialists called in to investigate the incident quit under terms like “absence of information,” “secrecy” and “hidden evidence.” The special prosecutor’s office has said it’s actively investigating the alleged deletion of key videos relevant to the case. This latest development causes great concern for advocates of justice.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum answered Marín’s arrest at a regularly scheduled Friday morning press conference. She succeeded leftist populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He was still in office in 2024 when he did not fulfill his fundamental electoral promise to solve the mystery of the 43 disappeared students. Unfortunately, the recent developments have ripped that old scab off for mourning families. They view Marín’s arrest as an indication of cover-ups that continue to make their quest for justice impossible.
International monitors, including the OSCE and UN Human Rights Office, have criticized the lack of transparency around the investigation. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico found a systemic pattern. For one, the Armed Forces did not submit complete documentation to an independent panel, which is currently investigating the disappearances.
