Protests surrounding the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teaching college in Mexico have raged on for weeks with no signs of slowing.
Originally centered in Mexico's southern state of Guerrero, the demonstrations have now expanded nationwide, including a march last week in which thousands of protesters stormed the main square in Mexico City and set fire to the door of the National Palace. A national strike is planned for Thursday, Nov. 20, Mexico's Revolution Day. Thousands are expected to participate.
Kidnappings and violence in Mexico are not new -- according to an Amnesty International report, more than 26,000 people disappeared in the country between Dec. 2006 and Dec. 2012 in addition to the 65,000 who died in violence related to the drug war in that time.
This time it's different. The gruesome details of the forced disappearance and murder of poor, unarmed students has shocked a nation desensitized to violence and renewed calls for a revolution. Here is a timeline of events leading up to the current uprising.
Sept. 26: The disappearance
The unrest began with a demonstration involving around 100 students from Raúl Isidro Burgos Ayotzinapa Normal School in Iguala, Mexico.
The students allegedly took over several local buses and were heading into town where Iguala Mayor José Luis Abarca and his wife María Pineda de los Ángeles were throwing a dinner party.
Fearing the students' protests would interrupt their event, the couple ordered police to stop them. "Teach them a lesson," Pineda allegedly told the police.
Police then opened fire on the buses, killing six people and injuring more than a dozen. According to a state investigation, the 43 missing students were then rounded up and taken away in cargo trucks. This was the last time they were seen alive. At some point, the students were handed over to the Guerreros Unidos drug gang, investigators say.
One of the students, Julio César Mondragón Fuentes, was found nearby the next day with his face peeled off and eyeballs removed, a move that suggested cartels were responsible. Gruesome photos of the corpse were posted on social media as anger grew.
Sept. 28: Iguala police arrested, federal forces take charge
State officials arrested 22 city officers for their involvement in the kidnapping of the missing students.
Elementos del Ejército y la Policía Federal toman el control del Palacio Municipal de Iguala. @lasillarota pic.twitter.com/aKF7XKf75s— Paris Alejandro (@Paris_Alejandro) October 6, 2014
President Enrique Pena Nieto ordered federal police to take control of the city as he opened an investigation into the incidents. The mayor and his wife are suspects in the case, but still missing at this point.
Oct. 4: Mass graves discovered
The remains of at least 28 people originally thought to be the missing students were removed from mass graves on the outskirts of Iguala.
DNA testing ultimately proved the bodies were not those of the missing students, igniting hope that they might still be found alive.
At least 19 mass graves have been discovered in the area since the search for the students began, underscoring the height of violence in the region leading up to their disappearance. Locals who lived nearby the mass graves said the area was a well-known dumping ground for corpses of those killed by drug cartels.
Oct. 13: Protesters burn government buildings in Chilpancingo
Students and teachers from the Normal school took over several government buildings in Chilpancingo, holding employees hostage inside for hours before evacuating the building and lighting it on fire.
The students said they demanded the 43 missing students be returned alive.
Oct. 17: Thousands march in Acapulco
Several thousand people shut down major streets in the tourist town of Acapulco, Mexico to demand the missing students be returned alive.
#Foto #AsiSeVio Marcha por normalistas en #Acapulco #Ayotzinapa #CasoIguala http://t.co/mOEUjZ5TTC pic.twitter.com/PZJf7HVJdJ— El Universal (@El_Universal_Mx) October 17, 2014
The protesters came in a caravan of more than 20 buses from the teaching college. They also called for Angel Aguirre Rivero, the governor of Guerrero, to resign in light of the deep corruption uncovered by investigations into the students' disappearance.
The demonstrators ended the peaceful protests that evening and vowed to "paralyze the country" with future actions if the government did not respond to their demands.
Oct. 22: Movement grows in Mexico City and around the world calling for return of students
Thousands of people marched in Mexico City in "Global Day of Action for Ayotzinapa" as Attorney General Murillo Karam confirmed in a press conference that Mayor Abarca and his wife officially ordered the police attacks on the students.
Karam said the investigation found that the Guerreros Unidos gang essentially ran Iguala, paying off the mayor and local police force with money it made from selling opium paste.
Oct. 24: Guerrero Governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero resigns
Governor Ángel Aguirre Rivero finally gave into weeks of demands for his resignation.
Gracias a todos los guerrerenses que me acompañaron, a quienes me dieron su confianza y apoyo.— Ángel Aguirre Rivero (@AngelAguirreGro) October 24, 2014
He tweeted a statement on the matter saying, "Thank you to all the people of Guerrero who accompanied me, to those who gave me their confidence and support."
Nov. 4: Mayor and his wife arrested
After weeks on the run, Mayor Abarca and his wife were discovered staying in a rental home in a poor neighborhood of Mexico City and arrested. A photo tweeted by a local news organization shows where they were hiding.
Aquí fueron detenidos Abarca y su esposa en Iztapalapa, DF (+fotos) http://t.co/1QWlxrmgl6 pic.twitter.com/P6XQ7bYB7u— Pulso Ciudadano (@PulsoCiudadano_) November 4, 2014
Abarca said he did not resist arrest because he "was tired of being in hiding," and could no longer take the pressure.
Nov. 5: Protests continue to grow in Mexico City
Thousands of protesters continued to demonstrate in the main square of Mexico City and increased calls for President Nieto to resign.
"Yo que soy estudiante puedo ser el siguiente" #AccionGlobalporAyotzinapa pic.twitter.com/iiyb61OAKl— REFORMACOM (@REFORMACOM) November 5, 2014
Protesters also repeated "They were taken alive, and we want them back alive," and sported the slogan "Fue el estado" or "It was the state."
Nov. 7: Mexico attorney general announces more findings of the investigation, protests ensue
Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam announced the missing students are presumed dead after detained members of the Guerreros Unidos gang confessed to executing the students and burning their bodies.
Human remains presumed to be the students were found in plastic garbage bags in a river in Cocula, a town near Iguala. The bodies were so badly burned they had to be sent to a special lab in Austria for identification, where testing is still underway.
At the conference, which lasted more than an hour, Karam played taped confessions of the three detained gang members in which they described burning some of the students alive. Karam took questions from the press, but ultimately cut the conference short saying "Ya me canse," or "Enough, I'm tired.
The offhand remark quickly began to trend on Twitter and the hashtag #YaMeCanse came to represent the movement of people fed up with government corruption and drug violence.
"@syndicalisms: #MexicoCity: #YaMeCansé del miedo. "I'm tired of fear." pic.twitter.com/vkbmCxceMo"— Vianey Pizarro (@Vianey_Pizarro) November 8, 2014
Later that night, demonstrations reached a boiling point when protesters set fire to the capitol building.
Nov. 20: Nationwide strike
On Thursday, three caravans carrying classmates and relatives of the students are scheduled to travel to Mexico City to join what is supposed to be the largest protest yet.
More than 50 organizations have pledged to join the march and protesters have already said they will shut down the Mexico City airport.