Ayotzinapa: our portrait in front of the mirror

Abstract

The deplorable case of Ayotzinapa puts us in front of a mirror to question the accomplishments reached by Mexican authorities and institutions regarding security, justice, democracy, political participation, education, employment, the economy and social development. In 1917, the Mexican Constitution was enacted, which was groundbreaking at that time regarding the protection of social rights. Today, under neoliberalism, poverty and social inequality are expanding and becoming entrenched. Even among the well-off, there is only a small group that is accumulating the wealth, while society sees the middle-class weaken and the most vulnerable being victimized. This paper, which was born as a reaction to the Ayotzinapa case, is a reflexion on the context of violence, corruption, violation of human rights, impunity, inequality and poverty in Mexico, as well as on the state of affairs of Mexican democracy.