We Had Never Experienced Anything Like This Before: Merchants In Tapalpa: Jalisco

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from INFORMADOR.MX 

The merchants said that they were never ordered or invited not to open their businesses and that those who did so did so by their own decision.

WRITTEN BY: PATRICIA GALLARDO NAME 

The silence in the plaza, the closed shops, and the empty sidewalks might seem like a normal scene in a town like Tapalpa, where weekday life goes by peacefully, however, it is a totally atypical image for a weekend, particularly on a Saturday afternoon, but that is exactly what was experienced in the Jalisco municipality after the operation where federal forces captured a commander of the New Generation Cartel.

Places that during the weekends are filled with tourists, such as Las Piedrotas, looked desolate. The long lines of cars entering the center of town were replaced by vehicles that decided to leave the municipality amidst the army elements that guarded the entrance to the town and asked the population to remain calm, assuring them that there was no need to leave and that the place was not closed.

In the plaza everything remained silent, broken only by the helicopters flying overhead. The few merchants who decided to open their businesses, such as pharmacies, grocery stores or food stands were welcoming the few visitors who decided to go out and enjoy Saturday despite the circumstances.

"I opened because I arrived before everything started and the truth is that nobody told us anything. I saw that the hotel (which is next to his stand) was open and I thought 'well if something happens I'll go in there', but here everything has been quiet and it was in a secluded part (of the center) although it was a bit ugly. Nothing like that had ever happened here so I didn't know what to do, but when I saw that no one else was there (from the other stalls) I decided to stay," admitted one of the merchants while attending to her business.

For his part, one of the food vendors confessed that at first he thought the noise was part of the reconstruction work on the streets near the center:

"I thought it was the workers with hammers or drills, and only after I saw the square alone I realized it was something else, but, well, we had already opened and tomorrow we will work for sure". 

One of the most tense moments occurred when a couple of army trucks parked in the plaza and armed elements got out, so some of the people who were in the place decided to leave. But it was the members of the army themselves who assured the population that everything was calm and that they could remain in the area and its surroundings. 

In spite of what happened, the merchants said that they were never given an order or invitation not to open their businesses and that those who did so did so by their own decision, although they are confident that tomorrow Tapalpa will return to the calm they know.

Source: INFORMADOR.MX

TAPALPA, JALISCO📍