Court upholds acquittal of José Luis Abarca in Ayotzinapa case

On May 22, the 19th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, issued a ruling that shook the memory of the Ayotzinapa tragedy. It upheld the acquittal of José Luis Abarca Velázquez—former mayor of Iguala, Guerrero—who was prosecuted for the disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students.

Nearly a decade after the Iguala incident, the parents of the missing students received the most dreaded news: "the federal justice system does not protect or uphold the indirect victims." A ruling that legally closes the door to the judicial hope they had held open since 2014.

The ruling, issued within the amparo trial 70/2022, confirms that the First District Court of Federal Criminal Proceedings in Tamaulipas acted within the law. For the victims, however, it represents confirmation of a judicial system that fails to reach the families who, since that night, have been trapped in uncertainty.

The Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, which filed the injunction on behalf of the parents, was unable to overturn the decision: the federal court considered the students' parents to be indirect victims and, therefore, excluded from protection.

Although the Court upheld his acquittal for the disappearance of the students, José Luis Abarca Velázquez remains imprisoned in the Cefereso number 1 “Altiplano” —in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico— for other crimes that weigh on his record:

• 20 years in prison for the murder of Justino Carbajal Salgado, a social activist killed in March 2013.
• Criminal proceedings for operations with illicit proceeds and crimes against health.

The shadow of corruption and crime continues to haunt his political career, even after his fall as mayor.

Since that fateful night of September 26, 2014, the name Ayotzinapa has become a symbol of the struggle for justice and the open wounds of a country demanding truth. The families of the 43 missing students—young people who aspired to become rural teachers—have faced an unequal struggle against a judicial system that, on more than one occasion, has turned its back on their pain.

The confirmation of Abarca's acquittal comes as a reminder that justice for the students' parents remains a utopia in today's Mexico.

The ruling by the Collegiate Court of Appeals seals another chapter in the long judicial history of the Ayotzinapa case, but it does not heal the wounds. For the families, Abarca's acquittal means much more than a legal resolution: it represents the denial of their right to truth, justice, and reparation for harm.

Despite promises from federal authorities to ensure that crime is not left unpunished, the Mexican judicial system continues to send contradictory signals that undermine public trust.

The Ayotzinapa case reflects a judicial system incapable of responding to the demands of the victims and their families. Abarca's acquittal for the disappearance of the 43 students leaves a bitter taste that will hardly be diluted by other pending cases.

Meanwhile, at Cefereso No. 1, Abarca faces convictions for other crimes, but for the Ayotzinapa parents, the court's ruling is a sentence of impunity that perpetuates their suffering.