Is the Fuse Lit? Uprising/Lynching in Ascención

ASCENSIÓN, Chihuahua – An attempted kidnapping September 21 in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua touched off a burst of mass outrage that left two suspected young kidnappers dead and a small town in open rebellion.

While the details are still sketchy, the events began with the abduction of a 17-year-old female worker of a seafood restaurant in the town of Ascension by a group of young men.

Located south of the New Mexico border, Ascención is in an agricultural region known for its production of chili peppers for the US export market and other crops. The rural area has suffered numerous kidnappings and killings during the last two years.

Alerted to the kidnapping, townspeople and soldiers mobilized, freed the victim and detained five alleged kidnappers; one suspect reportedly escaped. Hundreds of angry residents beat two of the detainees, teenagers, and blocked police from rescuing the suspects, who were later pronounced dead. Reportedly, the mother of one of the suspects witnessed her son’s demise.

In a stand-off that lasted throughout the day, residents prevented two federal police helicopters from landing and blockaded roads to prevent military reinforcements from arriving. Armed with picks, shovels and machetes, enraged residents shouted at “corrupt” soldiers and police to leave. Some locals accused government security forces of colluding with delinquent bands.

One version held that the rescued kidnap victim was the niece of a member of the local town council.

“La Chona Lights the Fuse,” headlined Ciudad Juarez’s Lapolaka newsite, whose director was just granted political asylum in the United States. The news organization couched the report in historical and contemporary terms: “The new Mexican Revolution could have begun this Tuesday in Ascención…”

While mass lynchings are not uncommon in certain parts of Mexico, such acts have been rare in Chihuahua. The Ascension incident came at an extremely delicate political moment in Chihuahua and Mexico. Submerged in violence, the border state is two weeks away from a political transition that will usher into power a new governor, new state legislature and local governments.

Since the July elections, the murders of several relatives of Governor-elect Cesar Duarte and other politicians, frequent public displays of narco-banners warning of new attacks and round-the-clock executions have added constant doses of mass anxiety to an already tense political and social environment characterized by the ongoing confrontation between heavily armed organized crime groups.

“We consider that an armed conflict which has not been duly recognized by international institutions exists in the state of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez in particular,” read a statement from three prominent, non-governmental human rights organizations this week.

“The cost has been devastating: Thousands of executions, murders of women, robberies, extortions, taxes on businesses for turf rights, deaths of human rights defenders and journalists, hundreds of thousands of displaced people, complaints of human rights violations that are not investigated or sanctioned, and tears and blood that run through the desert in total impunity.”

The statement was signed by representatives of the Chihuahua Commission in Solidarity and Defense of Human Rights, Paso del Norte Human Rights Center and Women’s Human Rights Center of Chihuahua City.

Nationally, anticipation and angst hangs in the air as Mexico commemorates the 200th anniversary of the War of Independence and 100th anniversary of the 1910 Revolution.

Additionally, September 23 marks the 45th anniversary of the attack on the Madera army barracks not far from Ascension. Led by school teacher Arturo Gamiz and Dr. Pablo Gomez, the guerrilla assault inspired a generation of revolutionaries whose ideological descendants are resurfacing in other parts of the country today.

Last week, as Mexico celebrated its bicentennial, yet another self-proclaimed rebel band issued a declaration in the southern state of Guerrero. In a communiqué delivered to the Guerrero daily El Sur, the Armed People’s Army called for a popular boycott of the upcoming gubernatorial election, an end to the political parties and unity of all the various revolutionary forces. Containing 11 political points, the message was accompanied by a video that portrayed a guerrilla column in the mountains.

The Ascension uprising drew heaps of praise on the Internet, with more than one writer suggesting that the mass action showed the way forward in a climate of corruption, lawlessness and institutionalized impunity.

According to the Chihuahua state government, three surviving suspects were successfully transferred to Ciudad Juarez. Authorities are investigating the deaths of the other two suspects, said a statement from the administration of Governor Jose Reyes Baeza, which is due to leave office early next month.

Quoted in the Mexican press, residents of Ascension vowed to arm themselves and protect their town from its enemies.

Sources:

• El Diario de Juarez, September 21 and 22, 2010.
• Articles by Luz del Carmen Sosa and editorial staff.
• La Jornada, September 21 and 22, 2010.
• Articles by Miroslava Breach Velducea.
• El Heraldo de Chihuahua, September 22, 2010.
• Arrobajuarez.com, September 22, 2010.
• El Sur, September 17, 2010.
• Article by Carmen Gonzalez. Lapolaka.com, September 14, 15 and 21, 2010.

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Source used for this posting:

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico

Categories: chihuahua, kidnapping, lynching