Relatives of 43 Mexican students presumed to have been massacred will take to the streets on Thursday for an emotionally charged protest marking the 10th anniversary of a tragedy that shocked the nation.
The case, one of the violence-plagued country's worst human rights atrocities, has become emblematic of a missing persons crisis that has seen more than 100,000 people disappear.
"A decade later, we are still far from knowing the truth and the students' whereabouts," said Vidulfo Rosales, a lawyer for the families.
Days before Claudia Sheinbaum takes oath as Mexico's first woman president on October 1, thousands of relatives, students and other protesters are expected to march through Mexico City shouting their slogan: "Alive they took them! Alive we want them!"
But 10 years later, the focus has turned to finding the students' remains as well as the truth about who was responsible, in a nation where criminal violence has claimed more than 450,000 lives since 2006.
So far, the remains of only three of the missing students from the Ayotzinapa rural teacher training college in the southern state of Guerrero have been found and identified.
The families hold the ruling left-wing party of outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador -- a close ally of Sheinbaum -- responsible for the failure to locate the remainder.
"We believe this president lied to us. This president deceived us," Maria Elena Guerrero, the mother of one of the missing, said at one of a series of events marking the somber anniversary.
Hilda Hernandez, whose son also disappeared, said the authorities are "trying to wear down the parents," hoping they forget.
"But despite every attempt to divide and discredit, without rest or reprieve the parents continue to demand truth, justice and accountability," she said.
- President defends record -
Lopez Obrador defended his record in a letter sent to parents this week that underscored the prosecution of 151 people -- including 16 military personnel -- and the imprisonment of 120 people, as well as searches of hundreds of sites.
"There is no evidence that the army participated in the disappearance of the young people," Lopez Obrador said at a news conference Wednesday, adding that military commanders had cooperated in the investigation.
The students from the Ayotzinapa college -- whose members have a history of political activism -- had commandeered buses to travel to a demonstration in Mexico City when they went missing.
Investigators believe they were abducted by a drug cartel with the help of corrupt police, although exactly what happened next is unclear.
The so-called "historical truth" -- an official version of the case presented in 2015 under then-president Enrique Pena Nieto -- was widely discredited, notably the theory that the remains were incinerated at a garbage dump.
In 2022, a truth commission set up by Lopez Obrador's government branded the case a "state crime" and said the military shared responsibility, either directly or through negligence.
The commission found that the army was aware of what was happening and had real-time information about the kidnapping and disappearance.
One theory it put forward was that cartel members targeted the students because they had unknowingly taken a bus with drugs hidden inside.
On Tuesday, protesters demonstrated outside the Senate, throwing firecrackers to express the anger also voiced by frustrated relatives.
"For many of us, these 10 years represent impunity, injustice and a lack of commitment, seriousness and significant progress in this investigation," said Meliton Ortega, whose nephew is one of the missing.