On the 26th of September in 2014, 43 students of the Ayotzinapa Normal school disappeared after being arrested by the local police of Iguala in Guerrero, a southern state in Mexico. While this...Show moreOn the 26th of September in 2014, 43 students of the Ayotzinapa Normal school disappeared after being arrested by the local police of Iguala in Guerrero, a southern state in Mexico. While this incident is not an isolated case of disappearances in Mexico, Ayotzinapa gained international media attention due to the belief by the Mexican population that then-president Enrique Peña Nieto was involved in the incident. Independent investigations into the case have strengthened these accusations of a state crime, as they were able to gather evidence that contradict the government’s official version of the incident, which holds the Mayor of Iguala and the Drug Trafficking Organization Guerreros Unidos accountable. These contending versions have inhibited the resolving of the case, meaning that the population continues to demand for justice. Peña Nieto finished his term in 2018, leaving his successor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to bring justice for the students and managing the state crime accusations. This thesis explores how both presidents have addressed Ayotzinapa and the question of responsibility for it in their presidential discourses. Seeing as it was Peña Nieto who was in office when it happened, it is expected that he takes a different stance to the accusations, in comparison to López Obrador, who is not directly accused of committing the crime. Using the Critical Discourse Analysis framework, the results of this thesis demonstrate that the presidents take similar approaches when responding to the state crime accusations. However, their discourses differ when addressing structural problems that characterize the status-quo in Mexico, such as corruption, impunity and violence.Show less
