Solidarity Statement for the 43 Ayotzinapa students and the Mexican People
December 2, 2014

Toronto, ON – The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario stands in solidarity with the missing 43 Ayotzinapa students and the mass protesters condemning the murderous repression, corruption and state violence inflicted on the Mexican people by government officials and their criminal lackeys. We denounce a system where dealings between government officials and criminal groups lead to the routine silencing, intimidation, harassment, abduction and murders of citizens speaking out and fighting against deplorable injustices. As students and youth, we salute the young people of Mexico for sparking nation-wide demonstrations that challenge the atrocious and vicious culture of state tyranny and showing the world the necessity of struggling for genuine freedom, democracy, and justice towards an enduring culture of resistance.

The Ayotzinapa students were protesting for the rights and entitlements of rural teachers and against tuition hikes and government education reforms in the city of Iguala, Guerrero Region—protests that interfered with Mayor Jose Luis Abarca’s political campaigns, who allegedly ordered the attack on the students. After a deadly clash with municipal police on the 26th of September that left three students and three civilians dead, federal investigators revealed that the forty-three surviving students were arrested then handed over to a notorious drug-trafficking gang. The students have been missing since and presumed to have been massacred.

As the month of November also marks the 5th anniversary of the unresolved Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines, where an election convoy of 58 people including 32 journalists and media workers were attacked and killed by over 100 gunmen allegedly involving members of local police and military, the story of the Ayotzinapa students is yet another stark and grim reminder of the constant disregard of governments for human lives. A government that responds with extreme repression and oppression whenever the state’s legitimacy is questioned and challenged is an enemy of democracy and liberty and by large, an enemy of the very people they are sworn to serve and protect—their citizens. These are gross crimes against humanity.

The authorities’ intimidation tactics and lack of protection to the victims’ families, sympathizers and witnesses, and the inaction to uproot corruption within their ranks is an added insult and a mockery of justice that has long since steered to the dissolution of a free society. Amidst an unprecedented security crisis, the people of Mexico now fight for meaningful and genuine social change against a crooked political structure. The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario stands in solidarity with the families and communities of the Ayotzinapa students and the Mexican people’s demand for justice, freedom and democracy.

Stop the political killings!
Justice for the Ayotzinapa students!
End state violence and corruption!
Long live international solidarity!
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For more information, contact:
Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/FIlipino Canadian Youth Alliance
416-519-2553
ukpc-on@magkaisacentre.org
Twitter: @ugnayanontario