4 Killed in Guachochi, Chihuahua

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

The armed conflict in Guachochi takes place four months after the murder of the Jesuit priests, events that have deeply affected the communities of the mountainous zone.

Once again, the Diocese of Tarahumara launched a public call to demand an end to the armed conflict in the Sierra Tarahumara, where society cannot walk freely, stressing that the guarantees of citizens are being terminated by living in a "state of war".

The document, signed by Bishop Juan Manuel González Sandoval and taken up by the Society of Jesus and ecclesiastics from Argentina, questions the authorities about the moment in which they lost power and authority to these criminal groups, and insists that peace must be reestablished, since citizen life cannot be stopped by the scourge and the outbreak of violence.

The armed conflict within the municipality of Guachochi is taking place four months after the murder of priests Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora, at the hands of an alleged criminal leader identified as José Noriel P. G. "el Chueco" -belonging to the same cartel that perpetrated the confrontation in Guachochi- who killed both priests inside the main church of the community of Cerocahui in the municipality of Urique.

The alleged perpetrator has not been caught to date, and as the days go by, the demands for justice continue to be constant in order to find the alleged perpetrator.

The armed confrontation, which took place on October 20, left four people dead, as well as the arrest of twelve more people, who apparently are members of a criminal group and are currently at the disposal of the Attorney General's Office (FGR), under the protection of the National Guard and the Ministry of National Defense, within the subdelegation of the corporation located in the city of Chihuahua.

Only three weeks ago the same vicar of the Diocese of Tarahumara, Hector Fernando Martinez Espinosa, received information and warned that the same residents in Urique had already noticed that the presence of security elements had diminished, and that they had withdrawn from Cerocahui, where Jose Noriel "El Chueco" was sought by hundreds of elements, and that criminal groups were also returning to this area in the Sierra Tarahumara.

The Diocese of Tarahumara issued an appeal to the authorities in the state and the rest of the country, as well as to the criminals themselves, calling on them to end the violence in the state, even urging them to lay down their arms and put an end to the armed conflicts that are affecting dozens of communities.

"We are very sorry for the events that have taken place in our beloved Guachochi, Chihuahua, these are situations that outrage and sadden us, as they not only make us feel the vulnerability and helplessness we have when at times it seems that we are in a 'state of war', where there is talk and a 'curfew', 'suspension of classes', 'closure of businesses', 'not going out on the street'," they said through this statement.

The municipality of Guachochi, although it is not located in the limits of the state territory of Chihuahua, belongs to one of the members of what is known as the "Golden Triangle", which corresponds to Durango, Chihuahua and Sinaloa, one of the most important corridors for organized crime groups, as established by several security specialists in the state and the country.

The State Attorney General's Office established that there is a large presence of the Sinaloa Cartel in this area, which in turn has an extension to the south in Durango and to the west borders the municipality of Sinaloa, where there is also a large presence of the same criminal group, which was led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, currently extradited to the United States.

These armed conflicts, which were generated in Guachochi last Thursday morning, caused the municipality to practically come to a standstill, classes were suspended, businesses did not open and even tourism cancelled 200 reservations for the municipality, according to tourism authorities.

For this reason, the Diocese of Tarahumara, which has representatives throughout the Sierra Tarahumara, is raising the demand for peace in this area of the state, as they even question whether "where and how are our children and young people growing up? We do not have the rule of law? Where are we as citizens given our individual guarantees?

As a Church, as believers, as Chihuahuenses and as Mexicans, they said they want and demanded a security policy and strategy to avoid the death, anxiety, fear and anguish of so many people in the Sierra Tarahumara and in general throughout the country, asking that the lives of citizens should not be in the hands of criminal groups, for which civil society seeks and wants peace, and that the three levels of government listen to them and respond to their calls for a prompt solution.

To the criminal groups, as sons, brothers, compatriots, countrymen, they asked them to reflect, to look for other legitimate ways to have and lead a dignified life, to put themselves in a state of conversion so that they recognize themselves as beloved sons of God and that leads them to lay down their arms. "The Church and the citizens in general, we are not their enemies or adversaries, we are people of good will who want and demand to live in peace", he added.

To the authorities, government and armed organized crime groups, also as Catholic Church and as believers, they offer their prayers that they may find paths that lead us all to sanity and rationality, to live in a country where all of us are respected our individual guarantees and our human dignity.

At the moment, the alleged perpetrators are still waiting to be presented before a District Judge so that the Federal Public Ministry can integrate the corresponding file and prosecute the corresponding crimes so that they can be transferred to a prison in Chihuahua or in any part of the Republic, as it is a federal crime.

El Heraldo de Chihuahua