Rally urges U.S. pressure over 43 missing Mexican students

A banner displays images of the 43 missing students of the Ayotzinapa Normal School in Guerrero, Mexico, during a march Monday in Chicago. A group of family members and parents of the missing students visited this city and others in the United States to urge Mexicans and other allies to put pressure the U.S. government to intervene in violent events that happen because of drug violence in Mexico. It has been more than six months since the students went missing, but only one of the students has been confirmed dead by DNA evidence.

María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, mother of disappeared Mexican student José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa, protests in front of the Mexican Consulate in Chicago on Monday.

More than 100 people joined the Caravana43 on Monday at 204 S. Ashland Ave.

Supporters of the Caravana43 at Chicago’s Mexican Consulate try to hang a banner on the front of the Mexican Consulate during the protest there.

More than 100 people joined the Caravana43 outside the consulate Monday morning in urging international pressure on Mexico to disclose more facts about the disappearance last September of 43 students who attended a teachers college in Mexico. The coalition’s next stops in the United States for protest are Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit in Michigan.

A banner shows the 43 missing young men from the Ayotzinapa Normal School in Guerrero, Mexico.

María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, mother of disappeared Mexican student José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa, speaks about the strong ties between Mexico and the United States and urges the U.S. to put pressure on Mexico over the disappearances.

Protestors put a sign criticizing Mexico’s government on the Mexican Consulate.

Cruz Bautista, uncle of missing student Benjamin Ascencio Bautista, joins the rally at the Mexican consulate on Monday.

María de Jesús Tlatempa Bello, mother of disappeared Mexican student José Eduardo Bartolo Tlatempa, rallies in Chicago at the Mexican Consulate.

A group of parents, relatives and supporters of 43 missing  students from Mexico held a rally Monday at Chicago’s Mexican Consulate seeking justice and accountability in the disappearance of college students who were abducted last September from the southern state of Guerrero — almost 2,000 miles from Chicago.

“Coalicion Caravana43 Chicago” organized the local visit as part of three groups that are traveling to cities around the country urging international pressure on Mexico’s government for more transparency about the disappearance.

The three Caravana43 groups will end their U.S. appearances in mid-April in Washington, D.C., and New York, where they plan to present their concerns to national and international legal bodies.

Read more about the disappearance here.