By Nancy Caouette
MEXICO CITY
The former mayor of Iguala has been charged with the disappearances of 43 students from a college in southern Mexico, according to authorities.
In the first formal charges in the case, arrest warrants were issued for Jose Luis Abarca and 44 others for their roles in the disappearances of the students, said Tomas Zeron de Lucio, head of the criminal investigation agency of Mexico’s attorney general’s office.
Zeron de Lucio who spoke at a press conference late Tuesday, said that 97 individuals have been arrested in connection with the case and 45 of them face formal arrest orders, among them Abarca and his wife.
Abarca’s wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, was charged Monday with tax evasion and for her alleged links to the organized crime group Guerrero Unidos, or United Warriors. Authorities believe the couple gave the order for police to abduct the students who were protesting at a political rally the night of their disappearance.
Three gang members admitted to murdering and then burning the bodies of at least 40 of the students after police handed them over to the gang the night of Sep. 26, authorities said in November while producing video recordings of the confessions.
The remains of one of the students were identified in December by forensic experts using DNA tests.
Also Tuesday, the attorney general’s office said that parents and relatives of the students will be allowed to visit and inspect the army bases where they believe the students are being held.
The relatives of the students have never accepted the official account of the disappearances and have demanded that the investigation be expanded to include the role of the army.
Earlier Tuesday, a lawyer for the parents met with authorities to obtain the right to visit the military bases in Guerrero state.
That followed a clash Monday between security forces and relatives and supporters of the students when they tried to gain access to a military base in Iguala.
Other clashes also took place in the Pacific coast city of Acapulco.
The attorney general responded with a series of tweets. “The military bases are open to all citizens, but the visit must be done respectfully and with order. The relatives of student of Ayotzinapa college will announce the date and the time in which they will enter military installations,” he said.
