Update on Christian the 10 year old left for dead in Morelos

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

They were searching  for the American Dream

10 year old Christian Aroldo Iban, his father, uncle and cousin, were on a hopeful path to the U.S.

One can imagine the excitement as the family left their native Mataquescuintla, Escuintla, Guatemala on May 28^th of this year.  The fathers knew that the journey would not be easy, or free of danger. 

The father, Rudy Aroldo Gonzales, and Luis Arturo, brother of the deceased, his son Byron, 17 years old, and Christian, paid a coyote to transport them through the state of Veracruz.

It was in Veracruz that the horror began.  

The coyote abandoned the family in Veracruz, where a gang of kidnappers, said to be members of Los Zetas cartel, quickly kidnapped them, transported them to Ocuituco, Morelos, Mexico,  where Rudy was ordered to call family for a ransom of 12, 000 USD. 

Christian's family, Rudy is holding a younger Christian

It is not unusual for migrants to have money ready at their place of origin, waiting for ransom calls.  Ransom calls are routine when narcos prey on migrants.  What was unusual was the amount of ransom, which usually is somewhere between 4 and 8k.

And 8000 is what the family had to send.  They sent the money which was not sufficient with these vile sub humans, who decided a cruel death, by cutting their throats almost ear to ear, would be adequate punishment.

While the family was taken to the site for execution, the uncle and cousin managed to flee.  Christian’s throat was slashed.  Christian said he feigned death and successfully fooled his would-be killers.

However, he thought he would die and crawled into the arms of his father, he was near death when his rescuers found him with his father’s dead body. 

Christian was transferred to the Hospital del Niño Morelense in which he remains hospitalized and is stable.  Many high profile persons have come to visit, including the governor who came bearing gifts, but did not disclose if any options the family will be offered. 

The perilous journey of the migrant

  

Murder, disappearance, rapes, kidnapping, extortion, robbery, forcible entry into cartel work, or sex work, all await the migrant somewhere along the long journey.

Thousands of migrants have gone missing, and never found.  Yet these disappearances are never included in the drug war homicide tally.

Girls as young as 10 are given birth control before they leave Central America, as the parents know six out of every 10 migrant women and girls experience sexual violence during the journey.

And no one knows how many migrants are killed on the journey.

What I do know from firsthand experience by working closely with migrant shelters and migrants in Mexico since 2010, is these atrocities are the unequivocal blame of the cartels and apathy of Mexico.

Below is the address of the hospital where Christian is a patient.

Hospital Child and Adolescent Morelense

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Children's hospital in Mexico

Address: Av. de la Salud 1, Benito Juárez, 62765 Emiliano Zapata, Mor., Mexico

Phone: +52 777 362 1170