Original subtitles

They called and told me, "We're looking for Jorge Mercado

because people from Monterrey Tech wanted to invite

students with good grades and give them scholarships.

Just like Jorge, he was in second place in his major.

That's why we are calling."

Jorge and Javier came together.

And I told them,

"Jorge, someone from Tech called. I gave them all the information."

And then they looked at each other like this.

And I said, "You guys can do it!"

"Let's go, Javier." And he said, "They didn't call me."

"Oh, they called me and I was placed second.

You were first, so you should be even more excited."

Then being the good son that he was, he asked us,

"Mom, I was offered a scholarship for my master's degree

at Monterrey Tech.

But I'm also being offered a job at Chrysler."

"Well, son, your knowledge is still fresh,

and few people your age have this kind of opportunity."

And so when he submitted

his master's test,

I guess he might have been the best,

because of his grades, so he was offered

a doctorate scholarship.

He was really excited.

First of all, he was excited because he was going to join Monterrey Tech.

It was something that he thought was impossible, you know?

It was the greatest thing for him.

And then when he got the test results,

Jorge realized he had passed,

but only with a 50% scholarship.

Javier got a 90% scholarship.

"Work hard, son. You can increase the scholarship..."

"Yes, Mom."

And he would call me and say, "Mom, I got 80%."

"Mom, I got 90%."

"Mom, I got the full scholarship.

I even got a job and they are going to pay me."

And I asked, "What about Javier?"

"Javier already enrolled with his 90%."

And then he said, "If I got this, he can get a lot more."

"Hey, Javier, who did you talk to?"

"I just went and enrolled."

"No, Javier, go and talk to someone."

"But what am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Get a full scholarship and a salary."

He was happy.

In the beginning,

he was very excited because it was a brand-new experience for him.

Maybe it wasn't a new experience for Javier

because he had already lived away from his home.

The first time he came home

after spending a whole week there,

I can still remember his face.

They were both smiling.

They arrived together, with happy smiles,

like this, and he said, "Mom!"

"How was it, son?"

And he said, "No, Mom. It's great there.

I mean, teachers there are really different from the ones here.

A whole new level, another ideology."

I remember this and I think,

"How is it possible

that he went away so excited

and it ended that way, right?"

IN MEMORY OF THE STUDENTS JAVIER ARREDONDO AND JORGE MERCADO

Instead of us raising him,

he taught us many things

because he was always paying attention

to what we did wrong.

Or he would correct us.

In my case, it was about the medication.

If I would take it,

if I was doing it wrong, having sodas and flour, because of my diabetes,

"Dad, you shouldn't do that.

You are feeling sick because you want to."

"The Nerd, Javier Arredondo."

THE IMMENSE PAIN...

...THAT WE FEEL WITH THE LOSS OF JAVIER FRANCISCO

TURNS INTO CONSOLATION.

He never wanted to be late to school.

He didn't want to be sick.

-He even went sick. -He went sick.

He had a bad flu, but didn't want to...

Yes, he had a flu.

He wanted to submit his homework so they would see that he had done it.

He wanted to go.

PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR THE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF PROFESSIONS

LEVEL: TECHNICIAN, SENIOR UNIVERSITY TECHNICIAN AND BACHELOR

Some people told me, "Haydée,

you'll make him sick.

You're pushing him too hard, making him study a lot.

How is he getting such good grades?

Don't push him so much."

I said, "I don't."

"He does that because he wants to."

"Best grades," there he is.

Here's Javier Francisco, 94.66.

Jorge Antonio Mercado, 93.47.

Here he is, Jorge Antonio.

They got in. What a coincidence, right?

GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF HIGHER TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION

It was the 10th of May.

He said, "Mom, I have no present for you.

But I'll... I'll wash the dishes." And he did.

I said, "No, this deserves a picture,

because it's a wonderful present, right?"

And he washed... According to him, he washed the dishes.

He enjoyed everything. Everything.

And when he was in kindergarten,

they would have gym, and I noticed he liked it, right?

So I said, "Would you like me to sign you up for gym?"

And he loved it.

I think he loved it for the rest of his life.

AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF TAMAULIPAS 11TH NATIONAL ATHLETICS EVENT

2003 COAHUILA NATIONAL OLYMPIAD

EGOS FUTURE CHAMPIONS

STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY PHYSICS

WHO... IS GUILTY?

CAUSE 41/2016, 4TH COURT CASE: JORGE AND JAVIER

It must have gotten stuck.

When I got here with Rosi, it was...

because I had passed some rough moments in my life.

It did come out.

When you want to find something but you can't,

and suddenly you find it and you say, "This is mine.

This is what I'm looking for..."

We matched really well. I mean, my relationship with Jorge, right?

We understood each other.

He had a way of being...

Well, kind of nuts, because of his mom.

And I was rather strict.

No.

Let's unplug it.

My tools are always organized.

I say, "Here is the screwdriver, some pliers,

here's this and the other tools."

I mean, I know where my stuff is.

And I would tell Jorge, "This is yours. All I have is yours. No problem.

Just put them back where they were.

Don't change their places, please."

And I would come and say,

"Jorge, where is that tool?"

"I have it here. I'll get it for you."

"It can't be there. It should be here.

I mean, everything should be in its own place."

I think that, in the end,

we kind of found

a balance, yes.

Between my discipline and his craziness.

Like he had been my own son.

Yes, a father-and-son relationship...

isn't always great.

You have to have different sides. Why? Because...

the father has to impose discipline, right?

During the second semester, Jorge was struggling with some issues.

He came and said, "Mom, a friend from school will come here

to study with me.

He'll come and explain

the things I don't understand, so we'll keep working together."

I told him, "It's okay, son."

Javier came here to our house.

They went to Jorge's bedroom

and began studying there.

And I went a few times to check

if they were really studying.

And I saw Javier explaining things over and over

and he said, "No, Jorge, it's like this."

He had a lot of patience with Jorge.

And then he said, "You are easy to explain to."

That was the beginning of "I'm going to study with Javier."

And I would join them uninvited.

They were close, really close.

They lived together when they were at Monterrey Tech.

They used to compete a lot to see who got better grades.

For example, the catapult. "I say we do it with elastic bands."

"No, we should weld it."

"No, I say we should put it high."

"No, we should put it low."

They would argue about who ate better and all of that,

but they never had a fight about their religions.

One was more of a Catholic and the other a Christian.

They used to compete in car racing, both on their computers.

We watched them and said, "What's up with you?"

That's how they rolled.

Yes, sure.

Don't mess around. Where?

It's very easy, Javier.

My finger isn't working today.

Javier was very quiet and easy-going.

Jorge was very helpful.

He liked everything quickly.

Javier drove him crazy.

He would tell him, "Javier, look!" This and that.

And he would answer, "Hold on."

Sometimes Javier would come. Other times, Jorge would go

to Javier's uncle's house.

Sometimes, Jorge stayed here.

But they always had a lot of work.

I think they always wanted everything to work out well for them.

When we are in his room,

I say, "Javier..." I mean, I turn around and I feel like I can see him

on his computer, in the corner, working hard.

But he isn't there, right? I have to get used to it.

-Yes. -Or watching

The Simpsons, which he really loved.

You could hear his laughter from the street, right?

His laugh, everything.

We thank God.

You never really know, right?

When Javier knocked on our door and said, "Auntie, do you have a room?,"

you weren't even here that first time.

No.

I talked to him. He said, "Auntie, do you have a room where I can..."

And right away, I said, "Come on in." And he climbed the stairs quickly.

And I said, "Yes," and went with him.

"This room, with the TV. We can take it out, right?"

Yes.

And, what was it?

And I thought, "Well, Javier has many aunts and uncles.

Why did he come to us?"

I understand we live close to Tech. Tech is close by, right?

He didn't have his car. He didn't have a car during the first year.

I said, "No, okay, Javier.

Come stay with us, okay?"

But, as with everything else, God always has a purpose, doesn't he?

In the long run, we found out what that purpose was, right?

Javier came to us with a purpose. It wasn't...

It wasn't in vain. My children grew up and had to share...

We had to share our lives.

And he had to share his life with us.

So it was...

We had really great years.

We shared his hopes of getting his degree, of finishing it, his effort.

We really liked his attitude.

So...

It's really sad that the story ended that way, right, honey?

Unfortunately.

The way the story ended was heartbreaking.

HEADLINES

The shootout between the hit men and the military

ended with two people dead

and high property damage

to businesses in the area.

The owners still don't know who will pay for the damages,

I watched the news and heard there had been a shooting

outside of Tech.

At the crossing between Garza Sada and Luis Elizondo.

And I said, "That's where Jorge walks by."

I didn't want to worry.

I didn't want to make a big deal of it.

Because they said it had been two hit men,

armed to the teeth, and that they were dead.

I said, "No, it's nothing."

Then Rosi started getting calls.

Rosi told me, "They can't find Jorge."

She said, "I can't contact Javier or Jorge."

So I told her, "You know what? The news said there was a shooting."

I began having doubts

about what was going on.

...from this situation, this violent environment

we are all living in.

"No, come on, let's go."

We don't know what to do.

We've never been in a situation like this, you know?

Not even similar. Nothing at all.

HAVE A NICE TRIP SALTILLO, COAHUILA

"Where should we go first, to the hospital or the apartment? I don't know."

And I said, "Let's go to the apartment and see what's going on there."

We arrived at the apartment and were greeted...

They knew us. We used to leave clothes and food for Jorge.

The teachers were asking around, very worried.

They looked really worried.

One said, "I left them at the lab at 10:30.

And then I found their equipment there,"

Jorge's equipment was still on.

We went to Tech.

We wanted to check the security cameras and know if they had taken them.

They were already gone.

I still had hope,

because when we got to the apartments,

they said the army had taken some people with them.

Witnesses, prisoners...

I don't know. We went to the 7th Military Zone in Monterrey

and asked for information.

"We didn't know there was a shooting."

I said, "How can that be? Don't say that."

The soldiers were very quiet.

They were very arrogant.

"I don't care if they are here.

I don't care because I know they are good guys.

I know my boy."

MILITARY CAMP 7-A

We went back to the ministry office.

The agent told us, "The ones we left had nothing to do

with the ones at SEMEFO.

The ones killed at Tech weren't these kids."

I said, "This puts my mind at ease."

"But I'll go check Tech videos tomorrow."

And then my wife asked,

"Can we be there to see if our boys went out?"

He said, "Yes, I don't think that will be a problem."

That Friday, we went back to Saltillo

to try and rest, because, on the next day,

we were going to meet with the anti-kidnapping agent

and Tech's security chief to see the videos.

We were worried,

because we hadn't heard any news about the boys.

We had no clues at all, right?

No.

We called the phone he had here, in Saltillo.

He didn't pick up.

I called his Monterrey phone, but he didn't pick it up either.

It was becoming stranger by the minute

since I had seen the news in the morning,

but I never imagined it.

When they said "two hit men,"

I thought, "it's a good thing they killed two in a row."

I was in my room and calls started coming in.

It was weird, so I went downstairs to ask what was going on.

Why were there so many calls? It wasn't normal for me, right?

We decided to call my uncle Chuy,

whose house was where Javi would stay during the weekends.

Brisa called us to ask about it.

"Auntie, is Javier home already?"

I told her, "No, Javier had said he wouldn't be back until Saturday."

"No, Auntie, he and Jorge have been missing

since after the shooting."

I was very frightened.

"We're going, right? If Javier is missing, he has to be somewhere."

What we thought was,

"God, let him be somewhere. How can he be missing?"

We went to the Colibri apartments.

The building's guard

showed us Jorge and Javier's vehicles.

They were in perfect condition.

When we saw the cars parked there,

my heart skipped a beat.

They aren't here. Their cars are here.

If they were busy, they would be using their cars.

They would have used a car to go wherever they had to.

It meant...

they were somewhere else,

unable to communicate,

and unable to answer their phones.

Something was going on, right?

Then we got the pictures of what they were wearing,

and the time in which they left the building.

It was about 5:20 in the morning.

I told them, "You know what? Let's go. I can't sleep.

I want to see if they can help us."

We went straight to one of Tech's sides.

We were telling it all to a guard outside that door,

and he told us they were forbidden from getting involved,

that they knew nothing about it.

And I was praying to God,

"Don't let them be beaten, Lord, don't let them be hurt.

Let them have patience to explain who they are and...

Let them say, 'Check us out as much as you want.

We have nothing to hide.'"

One is where the other is.

We knew that because they weren't answering their phones.

I said, "You know what? Let's go to Chuy's house...

and talk to him

because we really don't know if they are aware."

And Chuy greeted us.

As soon as he saw us, he got really pale.

We knew he had a heart disease.

"No, don't tell him."

Jorge's parents called.

My husband also called to tell us they were going there,

and we were going to be shown a video

in which Javier and Jorge could be seen.

We went back to Tech.

There, we found Rosa

and we introduced ourselves.

But the video never appeared.

Tech didn't show it to us.

I was surprised because this happened overnight from a Thursday to a Friday,

and on Friday, they had classes,

and the guards were at the doors like nothing had ever happened.

I mean, if we hadn't been the boys' relatives,

we would have thought nothing had ever happened.

It was all very quiet.

Tech wishes to inform...

Tech's own Chief of Communication himself, we hear you. Good evening.

We just want you to know the official statement.

As a result of the shooting,

two of the people harmed by the army

were able to reach the side of one of the access doors.

Today, Monterrey Tech

continued its ordinary activities.

Luckily, none of our community members,

neither students,

nor professors, nor employees were affected by the incident.

And no one, as far as we've been informed,

not related to crime, was affected.

We went to Tech's principalship office.

We were sent to a room.

The engineer, Marta Maqueo arrived.

The principal of Monterrey's campus, Bustani, arrived.

And he came with a lawyer.

A man with a very strong personality.

He was a very serious person.

He said, "Doña Rosi, you are very worried

because your boy isn't answering, and he is a very responsible guy."

He had... He wasn't answering his phone.

Apparently, Javier couldn't be found either.

It's very common,

when events occur, like a hurricane,

a car accident, things like that,

and parents say, "I can't find my son," and then that person shows up.

So their questioning wasn't a strange thing,

since half of Monterrey campus' students are foreigners.

And, on the board, they told us

to calm down,

that two hit men had been killed at Tech and that...

they were armed to the teeth.

That they looked like hit men,

that we had to calm down,

that they weren't our family.

And, accidentally, Bustani asked us

in which school Javier and Jorge were studying.

The question was in past tense.

My brother and I were surprised

by how he said it.

And I told him, "They are studying."

He said, "Oh, yes, sorry."

"No." And Maqueo flashed a sign to Bustani

and changed the tense of the word and said...

"No, sorry, they were... What were they majoring in?"

How? Why use the word "were"? You mean "are," right?

And as time went by, our anguish grew stronger.

"Where are they? We can't find them. Where are they?"

In fact, they told us and empathized

that the ones who had died were hit men,

that it had not been them.

And the lawyer said, "Okay, the first thing we'll do

is check the bodies

at SEMEFO to be sure."

And I told him, "We did that yesterday.

Can't we do something else?" And he said, "As a procedure,

we have to do this."

I walked them outside the building

and told Doña Rosi, "You will see this nightmare will be over soon.

That surely,

thinking they were troublemakers, they had been detained somewhere.

I assure you, this is a nightmare

and it will be over soon."

We went straight to the SEMEFO.

We went to the amphitheater.

I told Rosi, "I'll go in. Wait for me outside."

"Why would you go in?

You can even get bloodstains."

And I said, "It isn't nice being in there, right?"

Without even thinking, while Joel was beside me,

I went in.

And the doctor made me go out and said, "You won't see a thing here."

We couldn't see the bodies.

I said, "Good. I want...

Why would we want to see bodies? I don't want to."

"We'll show you on the computer.

Come over here."

You're still blind. You still think they're alive, you know?

Even if they tell you 50 times that it isn't them.

And then they showed me the...

the computer and...

I saw that it was my nephew, Javier.

That's when...

Well, when the torment began, actually.

Because if they were always together, the other one was Jorge.

Because Javier was all bruised. He had a big cut and his eye was bruised.

He had been beaten up.

A mark in the face, from here to the eye,

as if he had been hit with the butt of a gun.

I don't know, it was the first thing I saw.

Then they moved on to the next victim. It was Jorge.

Jorge had also been beaten up. He was also bruised.

I went out

and told them...

that, in fact, those were the boys, Jorge and Javier.

He went out, screaming and running, like he was crazy.

"Yes, it's the boys!"

Pati slapped me twice.

"What do you mean it's them?" I said, "Yes, it's them,

the ones in there are Jorge and Javier."

And everybody started crying.

We were all very scared or...

scared, upset...

We couldn't believe it, right? I mean...

Well...

-Anguished. -I...

I went to Tech's authorities and asked about it, you know?

I said, "So these were the hit men you were talking about,

who were armed to the teeth."

They were students. I mean...

What really happened?

Tech assigned someone to help the family, Mrs. Maqueo.

It was really rough because I arrived at SEMEFO,

and, since I had already seen Doña Rosi,

well, I got there and went down,

went to the door,

and when she saw me, she started crying and said, "They killed my son.

They killed my son."

You can't imagine how moving it was for her to hug me.

"They killed my son, miss.

They killed my son. How is that possible? They killed my son."

Horrible.

And then my son,

Alfredo Manuel and Brise told Bustani

to try, for once, to correct the news.

They weren't hit men, they were students.

And Bustani said, "No.

We need to be careful

about how we will say this."

There was one relative,

I don't remember if it was Javier's,

who was really upset.

But he didn't mention... He didn't say anything specific

about making a complaint to us

as an institution, there was none.

I can remember the expression of a person's face

who just did...

I mean...

I feel very sad

because they were at the SEMEFO for two nights,

without family, without anyone knowing.

It's really cruel.

It's really cruel.

And as if that wasn't enough,

we went out and there were some soldiers there,

a group of soldiers, as if...

they were guarding the place.

And I swear, I got so mad,

I even thought of things I shouldn't have.

Like taking it out on a soldier.

I was so mad...

Believe me, I was going to...

assault a soldier.

PSALM 145:1 I WILL EXALT YOU, MY GOD AND KING,

AND I WILL PRAISE YOUR NAME FOREVER AND EVER.

I remember it all, ever since Chuy called,

since I answered the phone.

Javier wasn't here at the house.

That's when you opened the door

and I told him, "He has just arrived."

I noticed my brother was nervous.

I told him, "So tell us what happened. Did they kidnap him or what?"

And he said, "No, you'll have to come."

But they didn't want to tell us the news.

They thought about me and my wife being really sick,

my diabetes.

They didn't want to tell us something like that so suddenly.

Then I said, "Look. Chuy.

I don't want them misleading us.

If something happened to my son,

you better tell me the truth.

I want the truth."

I was very desperate.

They say mothers, like us, can feel these things

really soon.

I told Javier,

"Let's pack things up and go.

Let's go. Let's get a ticket and go there.

Let's go and see what's going on.

We can't wait that long."

They couldn't find a flight.

Marta Maqueo was listening to it all.

She told us, "Let me see if I can do something

about Javier's parents."

I don't know. She made several calls

and told us, "You know what? I have a private flight,

so you can go and tell his parents, and bring Javier's parents here."

I cried and I cried, and Javier told me,

"Don't get ahead of things."

You have to keep some hope.

"Javier, it's...

-a horrible premonition." -No...

I didn't want to upset her even more,

but it also tore me apart inside.

GENERATION 97-00 "ALEJANDRO ESPINOZA TORRES"

J. FRANCISCO ARREDONDO V. MY GODFATHER, ENRIQUE SALGADO

We flew to Todos Santos.

I spent all the way thinking,

"What am I going to tell him?

Hey, I came to tell you that your son is dead." No...

No, I didn't... I don't know. I said, "What am I going to tell him?

How am I going to do it?"

When Haydée was checking on the computer...

and saw the news about...

the confirmation that it had been

the students who had been killed,

she told me...

She let me listen to it and...

Well, I... They said their names and...

Well, we just looked at each other and...

Give up... What?

Giving up was the only thing left.

And I didn't speak anymore.

I didn't say anything. I remained quiet.

Thank You, God,

because You allowed me

to be a mother.

Thank you, God,

because You allowed me to fulfill my mission.

To educate my son on Your ways, Lord.

Thank You, God...

Thank You, God...

ENGINEER MC. ANTONIO MERCADO G. ENGINEER JORGE A. MERCADO. A.

CONDEMN THE MURDER

RIP

VICTIMS OF SHOOTING STUDIED AT THE ITESM THEY WERE FROM TECH

This one is from the first year.

Well, of the tragic anniversary.

It says "I love JAF,"

since most of us used to call him Jaf, or Jafito, or Javi,

we had this shirt made with...

Javier and Jorge, with their picture.

And we wrote something

in which we state we haven't forgotten, that we keep demanding justice.

Every March 19th is a return

to these memories,

to Javier and Jorge.

"It wasn't a mistake and I don't forget.

Jorge and Javier.

March 19th, 2010."

Most of the hard evidence that was recovered

states that these young men were in the line of fire

in which the army members were.

And it seems, according to the caliber of the wounds

that can be detected in one of them,

that they were hurt and assaulted

by members of organized crime.

This tells us that our army acted

with complete institutionality, with complete professionalism...

Ever since it began, since 2007, 2008, until...

I think, 2012...

every day, there were

shootings, corpses found wrapped in blankets, et cetera.

And this entire part,

what's on the hill,

there are four or five colonies which are really dangerous.

Why? Because they are always watching from above.

We even found out that they have night vision.

Those aren't streets, but alleyways.

It's like a favela.

And there are a lot of blocks way up.

And that is where several criminal groups are.

Those don't have security houses, you know?

This part is controlled by the Zetas, then came the Golfo cartel,

and every time there was

a change of the controlling group, there were killings and...

Blocks and blocks and blocks.

This is where many students live, and so on.

But those in the hills are always there.

And there's Tech.

There's Morones Prieto,

and that's Garza Sada.

From there to here

was the military pursuit.

This is where they got in, on this side,

see?

There, it says "Luis Elizondo," see?

LUIS ELIZONDO AVENUE RIO PANUCO EXIT

Here's the HSBC bank.

The criminals' convoy stopped here, where they left the van

and got out running.

The military followed them. Here's where it all happened.

Everything. They said the grenades also came from above.

There's Tech's gate.

After midnight, Eugenio Garza Sada Avenue was completely blocked.

A shooting and pursuit

between federal forces and members of organized crime

turned this zone into a battlefield.

Three long weapons, 35 magazines,

a torture board, radio communication gear,

a bag with notebooks and a box of ammunition were seized

inside the van.

It all ended with two dead hit men, whose bodies were found

inside the campus of Monterrey Tech.

At that time, Monterrey was

all craziness and psychosis.

And we saw something we had never seen in Mexico.

Shootings everywhere,

dead people, executions,

people hanged from bridges as...

anything, you know?

There was some kind of psychosis when this happened.

There was a trending topic called "Tech shooting."

But before "Tech shooting,"

it was "downtown shooting," "Guadalupe shooting..."

It was expanding

and it was "Red Mexico" too, I mean, it was all Mexico.

You get out of work at midnight,

you check Twitter,

and there was a shooting downtown.

What do you do if you work downtown and your house is also there?

You do nothing. You have to keep on living

and that is all.

I have refused to auto-impose any kind of curfew.

There was nothing else I could do. I wouldn't have been able to work.

EXCLUSIVE - PEDESTRIAN ENTRANCE 6:30 TO 21:30

GYMNASIUM ATMS

It was a very stressful situation,

unsustainable.

But we had to cope with it every day.

You couldn't do a thing. You just had to keep on going.

Do your stuff, work, and try to protect yourself, that was all.

I used to report for TV Azteca Noreste during the night shift.

One of my contacts told me about a source and said, "You know what?

Shots were heard in the area close to Monterrey Tech."

I told my cameraman, "You know what? I was told a location,

Garza Sada Avenue and Luis Elizondo, where there was a shooting."

We gathered on this spot,

where we got out of the vehicle

to take our cameras out,

the video and photography cameras, so that from here,

we'll be able to focus on what was going on over there,

where the army was, under the bridge.

They were guarding a van and part of the area.

Then we were able to see

how a van passed really fast,

and stopped on top of the bridge.

From up there,

the van passengers got out and threw a grenade.

Cover me!

They started shooting at the soldiers, and the soldiers returned fire.

As soon as we heard the shots,

we laid on the ground.

There were still some vehicles passing through

and at that time the shots were heard,

many of the vehicles began going backward or stopped.

I even remember that a motorcycle rider

crashed into the wall here, on the avenue

in that moment.

Get out of there!

-Leave this place! -Hey, they are throwing grenades!

They are throwing grenades. They'll come at us.

The soldiers were guarding the van.

They never closed the avenue.

And, basically, they were overpowered,

because they were ambushed from the top of the bridge

and were thrown a grenade at,

when they may have... They could have placed...

They could have closed the avenue and stationed a military unit

so nobody could access the bridge

and this ambush against them would never have occurred.

The cell that attacked the soldiers escaped

on a State Police patrol.

You can see how the police corporations

were also closely linked to organized crime.

Cover him!

Hey, over there!

On your right, boss.

On your right, mate.

I went to this Benavides.

But when I got close, I saw that it was closed.

I decided to go to Tech's area

where there were 24-hour-open businesses.

And there are also the student residences, the apartments they rent.

Around here,

I saw a couple walking hand-in-hand

in a situation that seemed perfectly normal.

Like every other night, you know?

At the crossroads,

I saw something that looked

really weird and out of context, because I saw

a truck full of soldiers go by.

They crossed to the other side.

They made a signal that I was able to understand,

because it didn't seem like a stop or anything like that.

I parked in this corner

because I knew that, on the left,

there was a convenience store

that was open 24 hours.

Here, in this corner,

is where...

I was about to enter the store when someone threw a stone at me,

a rather small stone,

at my feet.

A soldier came out from behind this column here in the corner

and made a sign for me to leave.

That's when I realized that

there were more soldiers carrying long weapons

hiding behind all these columns.

They were exactly at Tech's exit.

I turned toward the store and saw there were people

under the counter, making signs for me

to get closer to the store, so I ran there.

There were two guys who worked at the store

and two other people behind the counter, using it as a shelter.

They told me, "The army and the narcos came through here,

shooting at each other, both over and under the bridge.

We think the soldiers are looking for them here, in this area."

I said, "How come? I see people normally walking on the street."

There were no patrols, no turrets,

no cars across the streets preventing people from going there.

That's why I got there, because there was nothing preventing me.

They told me, "This happened 20 minutes ago."

And here, in front of the store, that's where I saw it properly.

There was a van with opened doors

and lights on.

And it looked as if it had been shot.

As soon as I got to the store,

a few guys came chatting, going their way.

We told them,

"Don't go over there. There's a shooting."

There's a shooting.

But, at that time, there were cars passing by

on the four sides of the corner, and there was even a taxicab.

I think I saw a family in the cab.

I was very worried

because it seemed the situation was out of control.

MONTERREY TECH

Stop it! Stop it!

Stop it!

Take the keys off.

Please, don't shoot, please.

-Go in front. -I won't shoot you.

-Go faster. -I didn't shoot.

Those were the soldiers. They were going from side to side.

And, at the same time, you could see cars kept passing by.

What shocked me the most that night was

that I suddenly saw a column of soldiers

going inside Tech.

That's when they entered Tech.

You can see the bars in the back, the light you can see

is the campus lighting.

At that moment, I knew something serious was going on.

We stayed at the store

for 20 or 25 minutes, which seemed endless.

And all the people in there

were filming with their phones...

to try to understand

what was going on outside, and why there wasn't anyone

telling us what to do.

That's when a soldier came in,

hit the counter and said...

Don't film this.

"Don't film this."

-Don't film this. -Easy.

Okay.

Okay.

Don't film this.

-Easy. -No, no.

-Easy. -No.

-Why are you filming? -Because I'm here.

I want to see what's going on to know

-if we can go out. -Delete everything.

Delete what you filmed.

"Until 00:25, the news was that I was going to buy some aspirins.

Then gunshots and hiding.

Fucking narcos." Because I thought they were narcos.

I never thought they would be...

students.

ENGINEER JAVIER ARREDONDO MECHATRONIC ENGINEERING

BOOTH

GATE

25 YEARS OLD,

CATHOLIC,

PROFESSION, GUARD

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010, AS OF 00:40

HE WAS IN THE BOOTH

I mean, I was in my car,

and then I heard shooting.

I stopped and turned to see the guard and I asked,

"Are those shots?" I have never heard gunshots in my life.

MANY SHOTS AND SCREAMS WERE HEARD

HE WENT TO THE BATHROOM

There was chaos, because you would turn in any direction and people were running.

You would see people running, cars speeding.

You didn't know what was going on, other than the shooting.

Then there was a moment

in which the shooting focused

on the other side of Tech,

that's where the sound we heard concentrated.

APPROXIMATELY 15 OR 20 MINUTES, I HEARD...

We are calling...

Hey!

TIRE SQUEALS

SEVERAL DETONATIONS

GRENADES

POWERFUL EXPLOSIONS

THE SHOOTING STOPPED

HE HEARD GROANS AND STEPS AT THE SAME TIME

GROANS

HE LOOKED

HE SAW SOMEONE CRAWLING

THIS SUBJECT HAD A BACKPACK

A BACKPACK

HE WAS LEAVING

A TRAIL OF BLOOD

AND HE REPORTED TO THE BASE VIA RADIO

THAT THERE WAS A STUDENT INJURED

A STUDENT

HE HEARD ANOTHER PERSON

WHO WAS ALSO GROANING

"They shot another student."

That's when I reacted and asked the guard,

who was beside me, "How many have been shot?"

And he said, "Two."

HE HEARD A LOT OF PEOPLE COMING IN

HE LOOKED OUT AND SAW THE SOLDIERS

THE SOLDIERS SHOT BY THE BOOTH

AND HE COULDN'T HEAR THE GUYS

GROANING ANYMORE

THE SECURITY GUARD

HEARD A CALL FOR HELP VIA RADIO

HE SAID, "SEND ME HELP"

THERE'S AN INJURED BOY

HE MOVED

AS HE GOT THERE, HE NOTICED

THE TWO BODIES

HE DID NOT SEE THEM

CARRYING WEAPONS

STUDENT CENTER

When my adrenaline went down,

that was the moment

in which I opened Twitter

and began telling what I lived through, what was going on.

"Real-time narration, two students shot."

On top, it says: "Information shared on Twitter

thirty-six hours before the official report."

And the first thing I tweeted was...

"Confirmed, two Tech students wounded."

And it was at 2:05 a.m.

This was when I also knew the soldiers were inside because...

Tech's guards told me

we couldn't go out because of the soldiers' orders.

I also remember that I found myself on a corridor and looked over the fence

and wrote, "Heavy patrolling currently around Tech.

The campus is under siege, and nobody can leave."

"Zero 19," they yelled to the guard,

because they talk in code.

And their shifts as guards depended on a number based on the door.

I think they yelled, "019.

Answer, 019.

Zero 19..." and they insisted so he would keep giving them

information about what was going on.

And then another guard answered,

"We lost contact with 019.

The soldiers took his radio."

I think the hardest part

was to return to the same spot

where the shots were fired, where there were two dead people,

where the soldiers were.

The first thing we saw was the van with the hatch,

and the weapons on one of the stools.

They obviously told us that they were part of...

Well, that they belonged to the people who had died, that they were criminals.

They confirmed to us that they were criminals.

Not in an interview, off the record.

They showed us everything they had there,

to say that they had done their jobs.

At that moment, the military command was very confident

about giving us information.

However, I noticed that some of the other soldiers

surrounding the area were worried.

During that time, with Felipe Calderón,

we were told we had to be on the side of the army,

because they were there to help us,

to end all this violence.

So because of that, many things,

not only what happened at Monterrey Tech,

but also other situations that took place here in Monterrey

which involved the military

weren't reported.

When this official information was released,

we noticed that other people

also started telling, on social media,

"They weren't hit men, they were students. We are missing students."

Our first reaction was to go straight to the state attorney,

who at the time was Garza y Garza.

I went personally and told him, "Attorney, we have terrible information.

There are people saying that the persons there were students."

Some people went to SEMEFO

to identify

the bodies of people who, in life,

were named Jorge Antonio Mercado Alonso

and Javier Francisco Arredondo Verdugo.

These persons were students...

Between the two of us, he said, "I'll tell you the truth."

The current coordinator of the Public Homicide Ministry

told me that, when he arrived,

members of the army told him he couldn't access the area.

Hey! Easy!

Easy! Welcome us properly!

-I didn't pass through here because... -Yes, it's okay.

The state attorney told me, "Look, the army held the area for hours."

Wait until there is nobody passing.

"And that was because they had been tampering with the bodies.

I'll show you something I can't give to you

because the Republic's Attorney General's office

would be all over me, over everybody, but I'll show you

a picture they took with the bodies."

And he showed the picture to me on his computer and said,

"Look how the students have two rifles.

They were put there by the soldiers."

"Look how they were dragged from where they fell..."

There was a pool of blood there.

They were dragged from there, and you could see it in the picture,

to a nearby place, a security booth.

Once the state attorney showed me that, I said, "I can't remain silent.

I have to publish this."

He told me, "I can't give you the picture.

What I can do is show it to you.

If you want, you can bring it to an illustrator, make him see it

and reproduce it."

Well, this is...

-around one meter, a meter and a half. -This should be here,

and this should be here.

Yes, because this is where he fell,

not where he was hit, do you understand?

-That's right. -Yes.

That's obviously where it drains.

They shot, they hit him, he throws the rifle if he's hurt,

he throws the rifle or leaves it there and begins holding where the wound is.

-It's pretty normal. -Automatic.

He wouldn't remain like that with the gun.

I'm pretty sure one of them was holding it with both hands.

Yes.

How? How is he holding it if he's dead? Where? How?

This was on the legs. I mean...

They were like, really bent, like this.

But also, the jeans almost didn't exist. They were just shreds.

So...

I think that was because of the bursts.

THESE INJURIES WERE CAUSED BY DIRECT TRAUMA, WITH BLUNT OBJECTS

THAT HAD SMOOTH EDGES AND OF A HARD CONSTITUTION, SUCH AS

KICKS, PUNCHES, RIFLE BUTTS

FIREARM INJURIES

BOTH SHOTS WERE MADE LESS THAN A METER AWAY,

DIRECTLY WHEN THE SHOOTER IS BEHIND THE VICTIM

I was talking about the coup de grâce.

You could see a bullet hole that looked like that,

like a coup de grâce.

I agree completely.

They were meant to remain missing.

Right? I mean, they would end up...

-in a mass grave. -In a mass grave.

And nobody would ever know a thing about Javier and Jorge.

I think it was going to... Since it was spoken about a lot,

that could have been the plan, but...

It was poorly executed because it was already known

that they were Tech students.

Yes, they saw some identification, an identity card on them,

they knew their parents were going to look for them.

They would start asking about it.

And it happened. The truth is... Oh, it's one of those situations

that I lived in once, I mean...

You see the soldiers, lots of them are really...

young, and maybe you can even say they have no experience.

BLOCKED HIGHWAY AND VEHICLES PELTED WITH ROCKS IN GUADALUPE

ALBERTO MENDOZA CONTRERAS ARRESTED BY NAVY SECRETARY

Command takes advantage

that, as a tool, you have feelings.

That if one of your comrades was shot,

you already have a resentment against criminals, right?

So Command tells you,

"There's no problem. Kill them. Leave no one alive.

You go and kill them.

They are scoundrels. Fuck them. Right?

I'll pay for them. Leave no one alive. Dead people can't talk."

That's the main rule, "Dead people can't talk.

Dead men tell no tales."

FIVE KILLED

But when everything goes wrong,

fuck the pawns, the lower ranks,

fuck the troops.

Command looks the other way.

I believe the one here, Commander Antúnez,

was about to be promoted

to be a zone commander or something like that.

But I think that's where it all came from.

I don't know what...

"They are scoundrels.

Let's say they were criminals and we fought them."

So they didn't have to say, "There was a mistake, we messed up,"

and the general's promotion wouldn't be affected.

That could be it.

SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE COMPLAINTS SECTION

MILITARY AUTHORITIES WERE SUMMONED IN ORDER TO RENDER THEIR REPORT

WERE PASSED BY A GMC VAN, A YUKON OR SUBURBAN MAKE

THE PURSUIT BEGAN

STARTED TO ATTACK THEM WITH GUNSHOTS

SO THEY PROCEEDED TO RETURN FIRE,

FROM SAID YUKON VAN,

ALIGHTED TWO PEOPLE

THEY STARTED RUNNING TOWARD THE ENTRANCE OF MONTERREY TECH,

THE PLACE WHERE THEY FELL DEAD AS A RESULT OF THE CONFRONTATION

THEY RESPONDED TO THE NAMES OF

JAVIER FRANCISCO AND JORGE ANTONIO

BRIGADIER GENERAL, DEM C. ANTUNEZ PEREZ, CMTE

Cuauhtémoc Antúnez Pérez.

Do you promise to abide and enforce

the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States,

and perform your duties loyally and patriotically

as Secretary of Homeland Security

that you are entrusted to?

Yes, I swear.

Congratulations, Mr. Governor.

The new Secretary is this former general

from our army, Cuauhtémoc Antúnez,

the new Secretary of Homeland Security.

-Here's the official picture. -The official picture, of course.

I had classes from around nine.

I have a clear picture of when I arrived. It was still early.

I saw the guard

with a hose, cleaning the blood.

I also saw that.

He said, "Come in, boy. Nothing happened."

Actually, hearing about another death

wasn't something new, it wasn't surprising, I mean...

-It was a denial. -It wasn't even news.

In fact, there was a daily execution meter

and I remember that measurement really well.

When I heard they were students, I said, "These guys were dealers..."

-Yes. -I don't know. I said,

"These guys were dealers, because...

Here, in parties, you'll come across..."

I have even been asked if I sell weed.

Personally, I thought they were hit men.

I mean, when I found out they were students,

I wasn't shocked, I wasn't really upset.

It was more like, "Oh, what a shame."

Life goes on, right?

Check the words people use.

"Oh, they were hit men." It's a relief.

-"Oh, well..." -Yes.

"There's a bit less evil in the world." And it's absurd.

It's fine, because if there were more dead people, they were more hit men

-in one same hit. -Yes.

They said, "The army is coming," and everyone said,

"All right! It's the best thing that could have happened."

And after the first articles

like "the army freed five kidnapped people,"

"the army killed ten hit men," "the army blah, blah,"

people started seeing the things either black or white, right?

Black was all these people being executed,

kidnapped, taken, and missing.

"No, they must have been doing something wrong."

And white was the army, which was committed in doing its patriotic job

and leaving their houses and all that.

I want to help other people who think like me

to change the way they see things.

Because, in the end, it doesn't mean you're a bad person,

you just lack information.

You're living in fear.

Your trust has been put

on an institution or, in this case, the army as an institution.

And suddenly, you question that, and then who do you trust?

There's nothing to trust anymore.

Tech has a policy of silence and denial toward the case,

and it makes sense,

because the ones on the board, and those who invest in Tech,

are all businessmen, right?

Those are the ones who really rule Nuevo León.

Businessmen have a very good relationship with the army.

We will keep reinforcing

the support to the soldiers' families.

We will continue and improve

the scholarship plan

so the children of our army's members

can study in private institutions

of their choice.

If you start a war against drug trafficking,

there will be people who don't want to be a part of that war,

and many people thought twice about leaving the army.

But this scholarship had this perfect lock only for active members.

Suddenly, all the soldiers' children were studying at Tech,

at Ibero, mostly in all the best private colleges.

At Monterrey Tech,

both students and their relatives were standing in the front row.

Next to them was Mexico's First Lady, Margarita Zavala de Calderón,

who arrived unannounced to comfort them.

This morning, I went through the campus

and many of you asked me

about how we are going to enhance security.

If we had heard the guard before or after.

If we had given notice on time.

Students and professors,

we have to let go of the past and look toward the future.

It's like, "Oh, okay, they killed two of our students, but...

life goes on and we have to keep on living,

we have to be always driven, always enterprising, and always strong.

The mourning was like "We don't have to talk like they weren't killed.

They died tragically."

JORGE ANTONIO MERCADO ALONSO MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

They died because of life's circumstances.

I mean, no... these are not...

Falling down the stairs is a life circumstance.

To be killed in a shooting,

to be hit, to have guns planted on you,

and to be stripped of your identity,

those are not life's circumstances.

We were treated like, "Damn, two kids died,

-the tuition will drop." -Exactly.

Foreigners will leave and...

-Yes. -Numbers.

Many of us were called to the Disciplinary Matters Office.

They called me, "Is this Adriana Elizondo?" "Yes."

"Can you go to Marta Maqueo's office as soon as possible?"

"May I know why?" "We will let you know here."

Okay. I got there. "Adriana." I sat down.

"I was told you've been making comments

that are rather negative about our institution,

at the institution, so what is going on?"

Just like that.

There was a rumor that professors didn't want to talk in classes.

There was some major hermeticism going on.

And the girl who hadn't talked in class before and had no opinion,

said, "No, it's not fair."

And the engineer, who always defended the military, was saying,

"No, they messed up. It has to be said. It can't remain that way."

And that's how this assembly was born, I mean,

we adopted this case.

And even though people say,

"No, don't move anymore.

Think about their families. It must be really painful for them.

You are heartless. Leave them alone.

Leave their memories alone."

You realize you can't leave it alone,

and if we do leave it alone, it will die.

NEVER FORGET

And that is a mental maturity, a political maturity

of knowing when you have to grab a megaphone

and yell all you have to yell.

And when you have to perform a desk job, like Quique did,

-like we all do at PGR. -Yes.

When to fill the International Amnesty form to request the case,

when to talk to Jorge and Javier's parents

and tell them, "We are doing this for you

and because your sons marked us.

When you want to drop the case, we'll leave it alone."

But that was what motivated us. Seeing their parents

and what they told us, "Keep doing it."

It's also really important to understand who Jorge and Javier were.

Jorge and Javier were foreigners, they weren't sons of businessmen.

If they had been sons of businessmen, it would have been a different story.

They weren't soldiers' sons, which would also have been different.

That would have been like hurting yourself.

Since Jorge and Javier weren't sons of someone powerful,

it was like, "Okay, our policy can be a forgetful one."

I know sons and daughters are always the best for their parents, so...

So I shouldn't even say it, right?

Nonetheless, it isn't us,

the parents, who decide that, but it's everybody who met him.

His teachers, his friends...

Well, if I die...

nothing will be lost.

But they had...

so many dreams.

Sometimes, we can't demonstrate what we feel, but...

I see that...

in her dreams...

she remembers him as if he were still alive.

She talks to him as if he were...

present.

I would also like to...

at least dream about him...

to remind him, as he was.

So the dossier was left adrift.

We were told it was going to be complete,

ready to be taken

to...

-To be indicted. -Yes, to be indicted.

We have been waiting and September has arrived.

Then October arrived,

and I told Rosi,

"I think we aren't going to have

any kind of answer."

The boys' case is about to be six years old,

and we are still waiting.

We're in the middle. As uncle and aunt,

if we express our feelings, it will never be the same

as if Haydée and Javier were to express them, right?

Because they are parents.

What I'm saying is that it's been too long.

We only talk, and then again, and then we go and talk,

and then we talk,

and I get this feeling in my heart,

that nothing will happen.

The families are worn out in different ways.

After seeing the dossier,

I feel Rosi's attitude has changed

with regard to what she wanted

for the military involved,

which was forgiveness, right?

Her stance is, "No, I don't forgive them.

I won't forgive them. I want justice. I want them to go to jail."

We are here

not only as victims,

but also in representation of our sons,

Jorge Antonio Mercado Alonso,

and Javier Francisco Arredondo Verdugo,

who, besides having been murdered,

were humiliated and defamed

by the ones supposed to protect us.

And there is no action

that will put the culprits in jail, so let there be justice.

It's nothing out of the ordinary.

I would be asking for a normal thing,

a family whose son was killed, right?

THEY TOOK HIM ALIVE! WE WANT THEM ALIVE!

Our lives were destroyed.

We are families fighting for justice.

-Monterrey Tech? -Monterrey Tech.

Jorge and Javier. If you could come and greet them...

And, sadly, we are part of the statistics,

because of an absurd decision which was wrongly called

"the war against drug trafficking."

One part of justice is the punishment of the culprits, right?

It can't be forgotten

that the person who did this

is responsible, right?

So justice is...

repairing the damage, right?

And a part of repairing that damage

is that there are consequences for the ones responsible.

At the time, it was said that our boys were hit men

and that they were armed to the teeth.

Insult two innocent boys.

I don't mean only Javier and Jorge, right?

Anyone who is innocent.

This is an insult to all of us. Not only the families.

Since the President's wife came,

in 2010,

Margarita Zavala, yes...

she walked with us like...

We were in pain and she shared our pain and tears.

I mean... But what?

What?

Did she do something? No.

She didn't move a finger.

She did nothing. And that's the saddest part.

Politician after politician, and then another politician.

Promises after promises, and more promises.

And what happened?

We're still in the same place.

"Now they changed the state attorney.

Now they changed John Doe.

Now they changed..." "I don't know the dossiers.

I didn't check this thoroughly, but let me do it."

"Give me the trust I need to perform this task."

Later, the government realized its own mistake.

And instead of fixing it,

instead of apologizing,

they chose to tamper and destroy the evidence.

Were they members of the army?

Yes.

That is clear.

Was it a mistake? No.

There's no doubt about it.

It wasn't a mistake.

It wasn't cross fire.

It was a cold-blooded extrajudicial execution.

We only ask for justice.

I hope it works and it doesn't get stuck.

-Oh, look. -Look, honey.

Here he is, look.

Yes.

Come on, Jorge!

There!

I don't think they were even given a chance to defend themselves.

I mean, it makes me really sad.

Jorge...

Well, he showed

the friendship he had for Javier.

Jorge complied with God's commandments

until the last moment of his life.

He gave his life for his friend because it was easy for him

to keep running and leave Javier there.

But he didn't.

He saw him on the ground and he went back.

SIX SOLDIERS WERE ACCUSED OF THE MURDER OF JORGE AND JAVIER.

THREE OF THEM ARE ARRESTED AND ARE AWAITING THEIR SENTENCES.

TWO REMAIN AT LARGE, PRESUMED TO BE WORKING FOR ORGANIZED CRIME,

AND ONE IS MISSING.

NO HIGH-RANKED OFFICER WAS FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CASE.

TO JORGE AND JAVIER AND THEIR EXAMPLE, WHICH GUIDES US

TO THEIR FAMILIES, FOR THEIR STRENGTH

TO THE MOVEMENT #TODOSSOMOSJORGEYJAVIER FOR THE MEMORY AND THE RESISTANCE

Subtitle translation by Gaston Holtzman