Ángel Aguirre, the former governor of Mexico's Guerrero state, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College. Federal prosecutors accused Aguirre of "concealing evidence to determine the whereabouts of the students." This marks one of the highest-profile arrests in the case to date, following the detention of former federal Attorney General Jesús Murillo Karam, who faces charges of forced disappearance, obstruction of justice, and torture.
According to Mexico's Attorney General Ernestina Godoy, new testimonies gathered this year indicate that Aguirre not only requested the handover of security camera footage from one of the attack locations but also ordered the destruction of evidence related to the events. Aguirre governed Guerrero from 2011 until his resignation in October 2014, one month after the students vanished.
The Attorney General's Office (FGR) stated that Aguirre's arrest is part of a "new model of investigation" that involved a reanalysis of previous actions and new investigative steps. These actions allowed authorities to credit the former governor's probable involvement in hiding evidence to ascertain the students' whereabouts. An arrest warrant was then sought, obtained, and executed. This is the first direct criminal charge against someone holding the gubernatorial office at the time of the disappearances.
