Mencho Sends a Message: Let the War Stay Between Us, Don't Harm Priests, Doctors, Teachers

"HEARST", "Sol Prendido", & "Ivan" for Borderland Beat 

A message allegedly from the leader of the CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, was read out loud in a newly released video.

The CJNG Video

On July 7, 2022, a new video from the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) was released online. In the video, hitmen posing with firearms as a letter is read. The message read is as follows, as translated by Sol Prendido: 

Video Source: La Voz Del Pueblo

Good morning or good afternoon. 

By way of this message, I would like to communicate with all the other cartels and invite them: 

Let the war stay between us and let's not bother those that we shouldn't mess with. 

We shouldn’t mess with any religion, its pastors or followers, especially with Catholics. 

We’re not to disturb the priests, as has been seen lately. I think they deserve a special level of respect. They are individuals who only dedicate themselves to giving the word of God and to helping those who need it. 

I ask that everyone respect their means of transportation. Whenever they’re stopped, don’t bother them - much less assault them, as has been seen lately.

I invite you not to bother the doctors, nurses, and teachers who go to the ranches and towns like this. Let them do their job. Because my cartel doesn’t mess with any religion. Let's not bother doctors or teachers. 

Sincerely, 

Mencho Oseguera 

We are the absolute CJNG. We are citizens in service of the citizens.

 

The last time Mencho allegedly made a public statement like this was on May 6, 2022, when a banner was placed which told the citizens of the town of Mazamitla that the CJNG hitmen would not harm them however they were there in order to hunt down Ernesto Mascorro, alias “El Chaparro”. For more details see this previous story. 

Details of the Video

There are seventeen hitmen visible in the video situated in three rows, some standing, some kneeling and some lying on the ground.

They are dressed in the same combination of camo shirts and bandana face coverings. They are all wearing baseball caps, but of different varieties, such as Hurley, seen at the front center left. 

 

The room they are situated in has plain white walls, a window with a wood frame is covered with a single white curtain panel hung on a wooden curtain rod. Some sort of AC/heat/air fixture or oddly shaped crown molding appears in the upper right side of the frame. 

What is the message referring to? 

The letter which was read makes reference to prominent current news at the time - mainly the two Jesuit priests that were killed alongside a tour guide in a church within the town of Cerocahui, in the state of Chihuahua. The main suspect in the triple homicide, according to the Attorney General’s Office, is Sinaloa Cartel member José Noriel Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco”. For more details on that event, please see this previous story. 

When the letter asks that “everyone respect their [priest’s] means of transportation. Whenever they’re stopped, don’t bother them - much less assault them, as has been seen lately”, its likely referring to the recent story told by bishop of Zacatecas, Sigifredo Noriega Barceló, who detailed that his group was stopped at a cartel checkpoint armed by hitmen while he was on a scheduled tour of the northern part of the state of Jalisco. 

Later, the archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega corroborated the bishop’s story, saying that he too had been stopped at cartel checkpoints when he traveled through the same general region. For more details on that, please see this previous story.

Other Uploads of the Video: Balam, El Blog de Los Guachos, Jalisciense, GHOSTDEVIIL