“Everyone has their own hypothesis, but the pain of their relatives deserves the benefit of the doubt until an investigation is carried out,” Calderón said, according to reports in local media.The National Autonomous University of Mexico, where three of the dead and the survivor studied, said in a statement that Uribe’s comments were “baseless, imprudent and irresponsible.” The fourth student attended Mexico’s Politecnico Nacional University.Uribe told Mexico’s Televisa network earlier the students were “accomplices of terrorism”. Uribe’s comments thrust him headlong into a debate here about whether the students should have been at the guerrilla camp.Many Mexican news commentators say the students were supporters of the rebels. But the students’ families deny they were involved with the FARC, saying they traveled to Ecuador for a leftist political conference before visiting the rebel camp for academic purposes.The March 1 raid killed 25 people including top FARC commander Raúl Reyes and the four Mexicans. A fifth Mexican student, 26-year-old Lucia Morett, was wounded. She remains in Ecuador, and her family says she is seeking political asylum because she fears Mexican officials may prosecute her on terrorism charges.The raid also caused a crisis in relations between Colombia and Ecuador that has not yet healed. Ecuador cut off diplomatic ties following the attack, and its president, Rafael Correa, has said he is not satisfied with Uribe’s response.
