As the Summit of the Americas commences, several US-based groups and university officials have signed a letter to President Obama questioning his response to the 43 students missing from the Mexican state of Guerrero for over six months. The letter asks why the Obama administration has placed sanctions on Venezuela, but maintained normal relations with Mexico, despite the students’ disappearance. Mexican authorities have declared the 43 students dead, saying local police acting on the orders of the mayor of Iguala attacked them and turned them over to drug gang members, who killed and incinerated them. But so far the remains of only one of the 43 have been identified, and reports have pointed to the involvement of federal authorities. We are joined by two relatives of the missing students who live here in New York: Antonio Tizapa is the father of missing student Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño; and Amado Tlatempa is the cousin of another missing student, Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempa. “What I would tell President Obama is to stop supporting Plan Mérida, because the weapons, the arms that are supposedly supporting the war against drugs, those arms are being used to annihilate our students,” Tizapa says.

TRANSCRIPT:

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: As the Summit of the Americas commences, several US-based groups and university officials have signed a letter to President Obama questioning his response to the 43 students missing from the Mexican state of Guerrero for over six months. The letter notes, quote, “In Venezuela, during protests in February and March of 2014, 43 people from both sides of the political spectrum died. In Mexico, 43 normal school students were disappeared by government forces. Why should one incident serve as a precedent to impose sanctions while the other is overlooked?”

AMY GOODMAN: Mexican authorities say local police, acting on the orders of the mayor of Iguala, attacked the students and turned them over to drug gang members, who killed and incinerated them. But so far, the remains of only one of the 43 students have been identified, and reports have pointed to the involvement of federal authorities.

Well, two relatives of the missing students, who live right here in New York, recently joined us on Democracy Now! for a radio-television broadcast exclusive. Antonio Tizapa is the father of Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño, who is one of the 43 missing students. We’re also joined by Amado Tlatempa, who is cousin of another of the missing students, Jesús Jovany Rodríguez Tlatempa. I began by asking Antonio what he thinks has happened to his son.

ANTONIO TIZAPA: [translated] What has happened, well, he has disappeared, together with his other companions. And what we don’t understand is why they did it. They are young. They are students from a rural normal school for teachers. They are young people from poor means. And the majority, 90 percent of the students, that are disappeared are first-year students. They only had two months of being integrated into the school. The reason for why they don’t appear, we don’t know. And that is why we are here, so that they can give us an explanation, through this medium, and other mediums, that can pressure the government. And I thank this medium, I thank Democracy Now!, because it’s the first that has given me the opportunity to speak to the American audience. And thank you.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Now, the government says that the youths are dead, but you still believe that your son may be alive?

ANTONIO TIZAPA: [translated] Absolutely, 100 percent. Like the rest of the parents, we are sure that they are alive. Independently, that what others say, that is completely false. We know that they are alive. We know that they are holding them alive, because they are being detained. We don’t know the reason. We do not know the reason.

AMY GOODMAN: What has the Mexican government told the families? Why don’t you believe it?

ANTONIO TIZAPA: [translated] Because the government says that this is a case that is a closed case. However, there is no evidence. There is no evidence that show us, that prove what the government says happened to them. And while there is no proof, we maintain that they are alive 100 percent.