Scholars available to discuss protests over 43 missing students in Mexico
LAWRENCE – Scholars at the University of Kansas are available to provide insight into the disappearance of 43 college students in Mexico and the outbreak of protests that have followed.
On Sept. 26, 43 students from a teacher’s college in the rural southern sate of Guerrero were abducted after protesting for more education resources. Their disappearance has lead to wider demonstrations over government corruption and Mexico’s increasing violence. Some citizens have even called for the removal of the president.
The following scholars are available to discuss the situation in Mexico:
Rubén Flores, associate professor of American studies, is an expert on Mexico’s rural school system, which is at the epicenter of the current conflict. Formed in the 1920s, the rural teacher colleges have been affiliated with postrevolutionary reform movements throughout the 20th century. Student- and teacher-led protests like the one that preceded the disappearance of the 43 students are common in Mexico, Flores said.
“The rural teacher academies are really very symbolic in Mexican history,” Flores said. “And the disappearance of the 43 students stands as a metaphor for the lapse of ideals and the problems for Mexican society today. People have responded by marching all across the country.”
Flores is author of “Backroads Pragmatists: Mexico’s Melting Pot and Civil Rights in the United States,” which examines how integration in postrevolutionary Mexico influenced public education policy and desegregation in the United States.
Magalí Rabasa, assistant professor of Spanish, researches social movements in Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina and the work that they publish. She has worked with some of the grassroots groups protesting across Mexico.
The protesters do not see the disappearance of the missing students as an isolated incident, Rabasa said. They are in addition to the more than 25,000 disappeared and 150,000 killed in the past eight years.
“This is a tipping point,” Rabasa said. “It brings to the surface not just the complicity but the direct involvement of the government in the daily crimes occurring.”
Rabasa is among the organizers for a solidarity rally for the families and victims of the missing students that will take place Thursday at KU. The rally is part of a global forum, “Mexico: the Wound of the World,” that will take place in cities around the world.
Luis Rodriguez, a doctoral student in Spanish, has studied how the political change after the 2000 presidential election influenced Mexican popular culture. A native of Mexico, Rodriguez has been following the students’ disappearance closely and can speak to the significance of the recent protests. He also can discuss the increasing violence that Mexico has experience in the past few years.
“People are really scared and tired of the situation,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is among the organizers of Thursday’s solidarity rally, which will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Ecumenical Campus Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave. He hopes that protests will pave the way for change.
“I believe this will cause a symbolic change in the minds of the people of Mexico,” Rodriguez said. “If we as a society can’t change this, if we can’t demand our rights, it will be harder to build a new structure.”
To schedule an interview contact Christine Metz Howard at cmetzhoward@ku.edu or 785-864-8852.