Iguala mayor finally charged in the disappearance of normalistas; if justice was served in another case the students would be alive

By Lucio for Borderland Beat

Mayor Abarca is charged in the murder of activist Arturo Hernández -witnesses testify Abarca shot and killed  Hernández, and now is charged  in the disappearance of 43 normalistas

                        Protests against the mayor in the Hernandez case took form in defacing municipal buildings

Infamous former Iguala mayor, José Luis Abarca, has finally been indicted for crimes connected to the case of the missing normalistas.

BB reporter Chivis has long contended that the case of the normalistas against the former Iguala mayor and his wife was worrisome, lacking strong evidence.  She hoped that the case of Mayor Abarca killing a social activist,  Arturo Hernández Cardona, in front of witnesses, would go forth, as it was the easier of the two cases to successfully prosecute.

And that perhaps the winning of a conviction in the Hernández case would lend credence to the normalistas case, and fearful witnesses would then come forward. Here is the back story from Chivis’ earlier post:

-The PRD national council unanimously approved the immediate expulsion of José Luis Abarca, Mayor of Iguala, Guerrero. Also impeachment proceedings have been initiated.

Because the mayor was wanted for murder.  

But not in the case of the 43 missing students (normalistas) or the others killed by municipal police on the night of September 26, 2014, it was for the murder of Hernández.

On May 30th 2013 hundreds of striking miners, farmers and activists belonging to Unión Popular Emiliano Zapata (UPEZ), were conducting a protest in Iguala, Guerrero.

The grievances had lasted over seven years and nothing had transpired to addresses the issues of  exploitation and extreme occupational hazards that faced Taxco miners on strike against Grupo Mexico, the Larrea family, and the complicity, abuses, and impunity of local rulers.  Other issues were the exploitation of farmers.

In the case of Iguala, the local ruler is mayor, José Luis Abarca.  Iguala residents have long complained of the criminality of Abarca and his wife, and their alleged ties to Guerrero Unidos cartel.  

                            "You're dead!" shouts Mayor's wife Maria at Hernandez who is holding

                              the mic.  She had to be restrained from physically attacking him.  He was killed the next day.

On May 29, 2013 Abarca ordered the social activist group in an open forum to;

“Stop fucking around with me, I have people that work for me, that can take care of this”. 

Arturo Hernandez Cordona, scientist, agricultural consultant, and founder of the local PRD as part of the National Democratic Leftist group (IDN) asked Abarca; 

  “What do you mean, take care of this?  That sounds like a threat to me”

Abarca’s wife, Maria did not stand by quietly. She rose from her seat screaming at Hernández, making threats and jumped to physically attack the activist, but was restrained. (see photos above) she too threatened his life, "you're dead!"

Death threats become a reality 

The next day  Hernández and 7 others were kidnapped; a survivor of the group says this in his sworn testimony:

"On May 30th we were intercepted by two trucks, one gray Cherokee and a red Explorer; the Cherokee six people exited armed with guns, and in the Explorer were two men and a woman, but they just stayed inside the vehicle." 

Hernandez was shot in the leg at the scene of abduction. Then they were blindfolded, and transferred to a field where their blindfolds were removed and the beatings began.   

He continues the testimony:

“Late at night  three people arrived, of whom I knew the identities of two; the mayor Jose Luis Abarca and Velázquez, the Secretary of Public Security, and the third person I was not familiar with. 

They all were drinking beers which they carried to where we were being held. The survivor stated that there was a woman in the vehicle who never exited the car, and he could not see her clearly enough to identify.

“The mayor ordered further torture, and at the end of our torture, mayor Jose Luis Abarca  approached engineer Arturo Hernández Cardona,  saying how much Hernandez fucked with him, so he will take pleasure in killing him.  He then raised his weapon, and  shot and killed Hernández.”

Not only had the mayor, ordered the torture of Hernández, then personally killed him but witnesses survived to tell the tale.  Two witnesses gave sworn testimony.  The witnesses were able to escape when the sicarios became sloppy after too much alcohol.  
 

Abarca goes to the media demanding justice, not for the murder, but for destruction from the  protesters (top photo)

Pleas for justice fell on deaf ears

Mexican priests and activists testified about the case in front of the Human Rights commission in Washington DC.   

And the  Hernández group protested and requested an inquiry of the PGR, who told the group “it is a state matter”, the same state who was governed by corruption and whose governor was eventually forced out of office, governor Angel Aquirre, who the group had been charging with being complicit with the Abarcas in criminality.  That is who the federal government instructed the group to allow to investigate the case. 

It was not as though the Peña administration did not know what was happening in Guerrero, and in the case of  Hernández, through the human rights commission the world had information on the case at their fingertips.

8 days after the kidnapping and murder of Hernandez and others in his group, another  UPEZ leader was "taken" and disappeared as he ran an errand.  Justino Amos Osores (at left) vanished.

But nothing was even done in either case, until after September 26, 2014 when 50 were killed in Iguala, assuming the 43 abducted normalistas are dead.

So in effect but for the disappearances of 43 students studying to become teachers on September 26, 2014, nothing would have ever been done in the Hernández case.  And conversely perhaps if the case of Hernández was brought forth through the justice system, the lives of the 50 killed in Iguala on that nightmarish night, would be alive today.

The peculiar fact remains that when the Abarca’s were captured, while on the lam, only then did the Hernández murder case come to life.  It magically sprung to life when the normalistas disappearance transpired. 

In fact, until this week the Abarcas were only charged in the kidnapping and murder of Hernández. 

Without fanfare, without explanation, of  why after two years of silence and non-participatory action in the case by the feds, it was in fact the PGR that brought charges against Abarca in the Hernández murder. 

The federal government is being tight lipped as to why it took this mass kidnapping to evoke the Hernández case, and exactly how that transpired.

Rafael Ochoa, one of the leaders along with Hernández of the Unidad Popular organization, says:

“The federal and state governments  waited a year and four months, to initiate an investigation against the former mayor and his wife, for the murder of our leader, who dedicated one hundred percent to defend the poor, and this delay, of course, the authorities have refused to explain why.

If they had acted immediately, as required by law, Ayotzinapa boys surely would not have been taken by municipal police  and would now taking classes at the teachers college.”

Hernandez front center blue shirt, Ochoa is to his right

And the case was strong.  It had witnesses.  One can only imagine if one or more of the 43 had managed to escape, it would be a different case, we would not have to imagine the truth.  That is the frustration in the Hernandez case, it was solid from the beginning, it remains so, but without the forensics and other evidence that was available when the case was fresh.  

When the Abarcas were captured on November 4,  2014, their initial charges had zero to do with the normalistas case.  It was solely about the Hernández case, which seemingly rose from the dirt of the fosa his dead body was thrown into.  

(Photo below: Hernandez' wife Sofia has been outspoken against the Abarcas in her fight for justice  she is councilor for rural development)

                                              His kidnapping/murder was the only charges against the Abarca’s until January 13, 2015 when the PGR charged the mayor with being the author of the police attack on students as well as for his alleged involvement in the cartel known as Guerreros Unidos,, whose  sicarios are now known to be involved in the normalistas case.

So until the ruling of this week, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) had not charged Abarca with the forced disappearance of persons, or any other offense regarding the normalistas.

However, it is noteworthy the fact that the Federal Public Ministry has now chosen to exercise criminal action for the crime of kidnapping, because it is likely, that if in the future the prosecutors charge him with enforced disappearance, Abarca can apply for and obtain an amparo, on grounds of being tried twice for the same events. 

44 others now being detained as suspects in the normalistas case, most being Iguala municipal police, were also charged in the disappearance of the students.