Berkeley students ‘tired of murders’

In Mexico and U.S.

By Dave Welsh and Terri Kay
Berkeley, Calif.

Over 100 students and supporters gathered at Sproul Hall at the University of California here on Dec. 3 to call attention to the role of the U.S. government in the disappearance of 43 students from a teachers’ college in Ayotzinapa, Mexico. The Mexican government has admitted that the police in Iguala, the town where the students disappeared, had turned them over to local druglords on orders of the mayor.

The Berkeley demonstration also addressed the many other murders that have happened in Mexico, especially since the North American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. destroyed the livelihoods of many farmers and workers while enriching those in power.

A number of Berkeley students stood in front of the hall wearing black masks with dollar bills taped over their mouths. They held signs reading “100,000 killed by the narco gobierno [druglord government]” and “UC Berkeley con [with] Mexico — #UStired2.” UStired2, the national hashtag for the day, stands for those in the U.S. who are tired of police murders, as in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere. The names of all 43 disappeared students were read out one at a time, as the crowd responded “presente.”