Mexico City, Mexico — A Mexican judge granted provisional release to General José Rodríguez Pérez, a top military official allegedly responsible for the mass disappearance of 43 students in Guerrero, Mexico in September 2014.
Rodríguez Perez is the highest-ranking military officer indicted in the nearly 10-year-old case, and is suspected of being the intellectual author of the mass disappearance. Although no longer behind bars, the military official still faces charges involving organized crime and forceful disappearance.
His newfound freedom highlights an ongoing trend of military personnel accused of crimes being liberated by Mexico’s Judiciary. He joins a list of 11 military officers implicated in the disappearance of the students who have been released by the Judiciary.
The judge in his case set a bond of 50,000 pesos (around USD $2,800) at the end of his pre-trial detention, as there was no evidence that the accused would evade justice. The sentence also stipulated that Rodríguez Perez could not leave the country or have contact with victims.
The general’s role in the disappearance
In the face of the overwhelming evidence linking the military and local police to the disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College, government officials declared the case a state crime, underscoring the undeniable role of military commanders.
According to investigations carried out by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI), the 27th Infantry Battalion of the Army, which Pérez commanded at the time, played a crucial role in the disappearance and presumed murder of the students.
The inquiries revealed that military officers and members of the criminal group Guerreros Unidos allegedly murdered and disappeared the remains of the students on the nights of their abduction between September 26 and 27, 2014.
Reportedly, General Rodríguez Pérez ordered the assassination of six students who were still alive on September 30.
On September 15, 2022, Rodríguez Pérez was arrested for his involvement in the case and possible links to Guerreros Unidos. His recent release follows the release of eight military officers involved in the case in early 2024.
Military and government stonewalling
The release of military commanders has caused concern among the students’s families who have faced obstacles in access to justice and the resolution of the case almost 10 years after the disappearance.
Although President Andrés Manuel López Obrador initially made great efforts to solve the case — one of his campaign promises — the parents of the 43 students said that the president had taken a step backward in the investigation and favored the army when the investigations began to point to the military’s responsibility.
Among the parents’ demands is the request for more than 800 files hidden by the army, whose existence was revealed by the final GIEI report. Both the military and President Lopez Obrador denied their existence.
The parents of the 43 students have warned of a possible rift with the Federal Government if the documents are not handed over and if the president persists in his protection of the army.
According to López Obrador, the parents of the 43 students and their legal representatives will hold the first meeting with virtual President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on July 29, marking the end of Obrador’s involvement in the case and a new era in the investigation.