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| Report Renews Hope and Doubt on Missing Students in Mexico | Report Renews Hope and Doubt on Missing Students in Mexico |
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| MEXICO CITY — When the government told Cristina Bustamante that her son had been murdered and incinerated in an enormous pyre, that should have been it, the final chapter in the search for her child and the 42 other college students who vanished last September. | MEXICO CITY — When the government told Cristina Bustamante that her son had been murdered and incinerated in an enormous pyre, that should have been it, the final chapter in the search for her child and the 42 other college students who vanished last September. |
| And yet, she said, all she and the other parents could feel was a mixture of resignation, betrayal and doubt, as if justice was being swept under the rug by a government more interested in closing the file than in finding the truth. | |
| “We thought, ‘The entire country is going to believe what he just said and we will be left alone, no one will go out to the streets and protest anymore,’ ” she said, referring to an announcement by the former attorney general closing the investigation in January. “And that’s what happened.” | |
| Now, the release of an international report this week contradicting the government’s account of what happened to the missing 43 students has breathed new life into the parents’ hopes, new cynicism into the public’s perceptions of its leaders — and possibly a new awareness inside the government that its tactics need to change. | Now, the release of an international report this week contradicting the government’s account of what happened to the missing 43 students has breathed new life into the parents’ hopes, new cynicism into the public’s perceptions of its leaders — and possibly a new awareness inside the government that its tactics need to change. |
| The report, by an international panel of experts, criticized the government’s investigation into the disappearances, including the official conclusion that the students, who attended a teachers college in the town of Ayotzinapa, had been killed by a drug gang and burned to ashes in a garbage dump. | The report, by an international panel of experts, criticized the government’s investigation into the disappearances, including the official conclusion that the students, who attended a teachers college in the town of Ayotzinapa, had been killed by a drug gang and burned to ashes in a garbage dump. |
| Right away, the report ignited a debate within President Enrique Peña Nieto’s office over how to respond. | Right away, the report ignited a debate within President Enrique Peña Nieto’s office over how to respond. |
| According to a senior official involved in the discussions, one camp wanted to fight back and challenge the report’s withering criticism of the government. | According to a senior official involved in the discussions, one camp wanted to fight back and challenge the report’s withering criticism of the government. |
| But the other camp in the president’s office argued for a more cautious approach, the official said: to accept the findings of the independent group, appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and acknowledge that more could be done in the investigation. | But the other camp in the president’s office argued for a more cautious approach, the official said: to accept the findings of the independent group, appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and acknowledge that more could be done in the investigation. |
| In a surprising turn of events — especially for an administration marked by a tendency to spin, deny or remain aloof in previous crises — the second group won out. | In a surprising turn of events — especially for an administration marked by a tendency to spin, deny or remain aloof in previous crises — the second group won out. |
| Only hours after the panel released its findings, Mr. Peña Nieto sent out a message on his Twitter account, indicating that he had instructed his cabinet to look into the elements of the independent investigation. Meanwhile, his attorney general extended the panel’s ability to remain in the country and continue its investigation. | Only hours after the panel released its findings, Mr. Peña Nieto sent out a message on his Twitter account, indicating that he had instructed his cabinet to look into the elements of the independent investigation. Meanwhile, his attorney general extended the panel’s ability to remain in the country and continue its investigation. |
| Nothing was even said of the fact that the government had evidence from its own experts supporting its conclusions. | Nothing was even said of the fact that the government had evidence from its own experts supporting its conclusions. |
| In some ways, the government’s response to the report was almost as revealing as the report itself, a sign that Mr. Peña Nieto’s administration may be starting to recognize that the chasm between the people and their president has never been greater. | In some ways, the government’s response to the report was almost as revealing as the report itself, a sign that Mr. Peña Nieto’s administration may be starting to recognize that the chasm between the people and their president has never been greater. |
| In a cabinet meeting last week, Mr. Peña Nieto went so far as to tell his inner circle that “we need to do things different,” according to the senior official, who was not authorized to discuss the internal conversations. | In a cabinet meeting last week, Mr. Peña Nieto went so far as to tell his inner circle that “we need to do things different,” according to the senior official, who was not authorized to discuss the internal conversations. |
| But whether this is the beginning of an effort to shore up the credibility of a government plagued by mishaps, or whether such an effort would even make a difference halfway through the president’s term, remains to be seen. | But whether this is the beginning of an effort to shore up the credibility of a government plagued by mishaps, or whether such an effort would even make a difference halfway through the president’s term, remains to be seen. |
| The report itself, notwithstanding the government’s public reaction to it, seemed yet another low point in the long slide of government credibility in Mexico. | The report itself, notwithstanding the government’s public reaction to it, seemed yet another low point in the long slide of government credibility in Mexico. |
| For the last year, ever since the students disappeared under a cloud of corruption and intrigue, the standard response to crisis from the president’s office has been to focus on appearances over substance, consistently promoting Mexico’s image as a country on the move instead of diving into the perennial problems of insecurity and a lack of rule of law, critics say. | For the last year, ever since the students disappeared under a cloud of corruption and intrigue, the standard response to crisis from the president’s office has been to focus on appearances over substance, consistently promoting Mexico’s image as a country on the move instead of diving into the perennial problems of insecurity and a lack of rule of law, critics say. |
| “The government not only proved unable to solve the problems, but its instinct seemed to be to shunt them aside, give pro forma explanations, and launch flawed investigations,” said Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based policy forum on Western Hemisphere affairs. | “The government not only proved unable to solve the problems, but its instinct seemed to be to shunt them aside, give pro forma explanations, and launch flawed investigations,” said Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based policy forum on Western Hemisphere affairs. |
| “It greatly underestimated how frustrated and angry many Mexicans would become. It is hard to see how Peña Nieto can regain a greater measure of credibility for the remainder of his term.” | “It greatly underestimated how frustrated and angry many Mexicans would become. It is hard to see how Peña Nieto can regain a greater measure of credibility for the remainder of his term.” |
| From the start of his presidency in 2012, Mr. Peña Nieto has tried to shift focus from security issues and toward economics, where the administration notched early legislative successes. | From the start of his presidency in 2012, Mr. Peña Nieto has tried to shift focus from security issues and toward economics, where the administration notched early legislative successes. |
| But in the last year, on the heels of mounting corruption scandals, spreading violence and the stunning escape of the country’s most notorious drug lord from prison, the government appeared to be hiding behind denial and spin, experts say. | But in the last year, on the heels of mounting corruption scandals, spreading violence and the stunning escape of the country’s most notorious drug lord from prison, the government appeared to be hiding behind denial and spin, experts say. |
| Such is the cynicism about politics in Mexico that many citizens have adopted a darkly comic outlook toward the blunders and gaffes of their government. | Such is the cynicism about politics in Mexico that many citizens have adopted a darkly comic outlook toward the blunders and gaffes of their government. |
| Lose the nation’s most notorious criminal through an intricate tunnel burrowed under the floor of his cell? | Lose the nation’s most notorious criminal through an intricate tunnel burrowed under the floor of his cell? |
| The public reaction, overwhelmingly, was a parade of sarcastic jokes about hiring the drug lord, Joaquin Loera Guzman, known as El Chapo, to oversee the dig for the flagging Mexico City Metro project. | The public reaction, overwhelmingly, was a parade of sarcastic jokes about hiring the drug lord, Joaquin Loera Guzman, known as El Chapo, to oversee the dig for the flagging Mexico City Metro project. |
| An investigation into questionable loans taken by the first lady, Angélica Rivera, conducted by an ally of the president, finds no wrongdoing? | An investigation into questionable loans taken by the first lady, Angélica Rivera, conducted by an ally of the president, finds no wrongdoing? |
| The response: Mexicans circulated an old photo of the president, Ms. Rivera and the finance minister jumping for joy together. | The response: Mexicans circulated an old photo of the president, Ms. Rivera and the finance minister jumping for joy together. |
| Now, some inside the government are starting to see the first sprigs of change. Whether those shoots grow or fall prey to inconsistent efforts is unclear. Most are not holding their breath for the changes to take root. And there is a reason for that, quietly acknowledged by some in the government: the midterm elections. | Now, some inside the government are starting to see the first sprigs of change. Whether those shoots grow or fall prey to inconsistent efforts is unclear. Most are not holding their breath for the changes to take root. And there is a reason for that, quietly acknowledged by some in the government: the midterm elections. |
| The governing party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, won a majority in the June elections despite the horrors of the missing 43 students, which drew nearly half a million people into the streets, and the so-called White House scandal, which involved the first lady taking real estate loans from a developer with close ties to the government. | The governing party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, won a majority in the June elections despite the horrors of the missing 43 students, which drew nearly half a million people into the streets, and the so-called White House scandal, which involved the first lady taking real estate loans from a developer with close ties to the government. |
| “The strategy for Ayotzinapa has been do not rock the boat and let the popular indignation run its course,” said Rafael Fernández de Castro Medina, a foreign policy adviser to former President Felipe Calderón and a professor at Syracuse University. “They did fairly well in the midterm elections, and that reinforced the idea.” | “The strategy for Ayotzinapa has been do not rock the boat and let the popular indignation run its course,” said Rafael Fernández de Castro Medina, a foreign policy adviser to former President Felipe Calderón and a professor at Syracuse University. “They did fairly well in the midterm elections, and that reinforced the idea.” |
| “But he is missing the opportunity to truly show that his government has the capacity to solve the single most significant crime of the 21st century in Mexico,” he added. | “But he is missing the opportunity to truly show that his government has the capacity to solve the single most significant crime of the 21st century in Mexico,” he added. |
| And that reflects the greatest tragedy for the parents of the missing students: They still have no sense of what actually happened to their children, only variations on what did not. | And that reflects the greatest tragedy for the parents of the missing students: They still have no sense of what actually happened to their children, only variations on what did not. |
| The original report from the Mexican government claimed that both the mayor of Iguala, where the students were abducted, and the local police were working alongside the gangs and were complicit in the students’ deaths, assertions supported by the new report — all except the fact that the students died. | The original report from the Mexican government claimed that both the mayor of Iguala, where the students were abducted, and the local police were working alongside the gangs and were complicit in the students’ deaths, assertions supported by the new report — all except the fact that the students died. |
| The new report simply says the students are still missing, reaffirming the painful uncertainty of hope that has haunted the parents for nearly a year. | The new report simply says the students are still missing, reaffirming the painful uncertainty of hope that has haunted the parents for nearly a year. |
| “I spend my days thinking that he is just missing, and that at any moment they might come and tell us, We found them; here they are,” said Ernestina Jacinto, the mother of Israel Jacinto, who would be 20 now. | “I spend my days thinking that he is just missing, and that at any moment they might come and tell us, We found them; here they are,” said Ernestina Jacinto, the mother of Israel Jacinto, who would be 20 now. |