Veteran human-rights lawyer Vidulfo Rosales Sierra has resigned from the Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan, ending more than a decade as lead counsel for the families of the 43 teacher-trainee students who disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero, in 2014. In a letter made public on Thursday, Rosales said he lacks the financial means and political backing to continue the high-profile case alone and cited growing security threats. Sources close to the attorney said Rosales will join the team of Hugo Aguilar Ortiz, the first Indigenous jurist elected to preside over Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) and due to take office later this year. Rosales, 49, had worked with Tlachinollan for 24 years, advising community police forces and victims of land dispossession in addition to the Ayotzinapa families. Rosales told Animal Político that the parents were informed personally of his decision and that the legal strategy will now be led by Tlachinollan, the Centro Prodh and other rights groups. He urged the families to maintain unity ahead of a 3 September meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government to review new investigative lines in the still-unresolved case.