While the Acapulco protest is not the first of its kind given the students' crisis in Mexico, it has become among the most noticeable ones, as it's not only occurring in one of the most touristic areas of the country, but the protest is going on particularly in the area where tourists gather the most: Acapulco's famed coastal boulevard.
According to Fox News, the Acapulco protest was pacific: a caravan of over 20 buses coming from the college joined other protesters from the teachers' union in the town's downtown area.
The Acapulco protest comes as part of a nation-wide crisis for the Mexican people: three weeks ago, 43 students from a rural teachers college disappeared, and their whereabouts have been unknown ever since. They disappeared on September 26 following a confrontation with police, in the city of Iguala.
According to the AP, the Mexican government in all its fractions (from municipal up to federal) has created an entire patrol in southern Guerrero state to locate the missing students, from horseback patrols to divers looking in lakes and reservoirs behind dams, but still to no avail.
In the meantime, Acapulco protests and more around the country continue, as citizens all over Mexico demand the government to take further action to ensure the return of the students to safety.
After last Friday's Acapulco protest, the federal Mexican government announced the arrest of one of the people thought to be implicated in the students' disappearance, Sidronio Casarrubias Salgado.
Salgado is supposed to be the leader of Guerreros Unidos, the drug gang suspected of the mass hijacking. They're thought to have acted with the help of corrupt local police.
It seems Casarrubias wasn't the one who gave the order for the kidnapping, but he was aware of it and didn't stop it. According to the Mexican attorney general, the suspect told authorities that he spent a total of $45,000 a month to pay off corrupt police in Iguana.
