General José Rodríguez Pérez is the latest in a string of officials arrested for allegedly participating in or covering up the kidnapping of teachers’ college students from the rural town of Ayotzinapa eight years ago this month. The remains of three of the students have been recovered. Jesus Murillo Caram, Mexico’s former attorney general, was arrested last month for his alleged role in a cover-up. Overall, the arrests show a rare attempt by the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to hold security officials accountable for human rights abuses in Mexico. Mexico arrests former attorney general for kidnapping 43 students Rodríguez Pérez is the highest-ranking military officer arrested in the case. Warrants for three others were also issued this week, according to Mexico’s deputy security minister. Two of them were arrested. one remains a fugitive. “Four arrest warrants have been issued against members of the Mexican Army,” Public Security Assistant Secretary Ricardo Mejia told reporters Thursday. “There are three people who were arrested, among them the commander of the 27th Infantry Battalion when the events in Iguala took place in September 2014.” Rodríguez Pérez, who was a colonel at the time of the students’ disappearance, is accused of playing a major role. Six of the missing students “surrendered to the colonel,” Alejandro Encinas, Mexico’s undersecretary for human rights, said at a news conference last month. Encinas said the six were “killed and disappeared on the orders of the colonel, who is said to be then-Colonel Jose Rodriguez Perez.” Students commandeered buses, a local custom, to travel to the demonstration in Mexico City. Encinas said they likely inadvertently stole a bus loaded with drugs or money. Local law enforcement forced them out of the vehicles. It’s unclear what happened next, but Encinas said state and federal officials neglected to stop the kidnapping and rescue the students, even though they could have. Mexico puts the national guard under military control The disappearance of 43 students shocked Mexico, but under former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, no serious efforts were made to solve the crime. Instead, officials shielded the role federal officials played in the disappearance. López Obrador now appears to be going after federal officials that his predecessor would not. This effort has been seen as a positive development by victims’ families and human rights defenders. However, some analysts have questioned whether López Obrador is primarily motivated by the opportunity to criticize Peña Nieto. López Obrador’s decision to arrest a senior official in the military — one of the country’s most powerful institutions — carries some political risk. He has relied on the military for a range of goals, from deploying troops across the country in a homeland security initiative to building a 900-mile train line in southern Mexico. This reliance on the armed forces has raised concerns among human rights defenders. Mexico’s attorney general’s office has issued more than 80 arrest warrants in the case. Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul contributed to this report.
