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Mexico marks one year since 43 students vanished

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AFP Mexico City
Mexico marked one year today since 43 college students disappeared after an attack by corrupt police, with their parents set to lead a march over a case haunting President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The demonstration in Mexico City will be the latest show of discontent over the government's handling of a tragedy that has battered Pena Nieto's approval rating and tarnished his international image.

Felipe de la Cruz, the spokesman for the families, said the "march of national indignation" will start near the Los Pinos presidential residence and culminate at the Zocalo historic square.

"We will march with energy. We can't rest in our search" for the students, he told AFP.
 

The parents traveled from the violence-wracked southern state of Guerrero earlier this week and completed a 43-hour fast in honor of their sons on the eve of the protest.

Pena Nieto met with the frustrated parents for only the second time since last year on Thursday, insisting that his government had not closed the investigation.

"We are on the same side," Pena Nieto told the parents. "We are searching for the truth together."

The president also ordered the creation of a special prosecutor's office to investigate the more than 20,000 disappearances in the country.

But the parents, who handed the president a list of demands, voiced disappointment and vowed to continue pressuring the government.

One of their demands was for a special unit within the attorney general's office to focus solely on the case, under international supervision.

The conclusions of the case have been disputed by the parents.

Scores of students from the Ayotzinapa rural teacher college in Guerrero traveled to the city of Iguala on September 26, 2014 to hijack buses to join a commemoration in Mexico City.

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First Published: Sep 26 2015 | 8:42 PM IST

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