Los Reyes.— In the last 15 days, at least two cities located in the border area of Los Michoacan Yes Jalisco they were left empty because their inhabitants were displaced by the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel (CJNG).
Residents of El Maguey, Quitupan, Jalisco and El Lobo, Cotija, Michoacán, were dispossessed of their homes, farms and plots. There are more than 400 people, members of about 80 families in the two villages, who in less than a week were forced to abandon their property.
universal He visited the area where most of the victims are housed and from where they ask for help so that they can return to their homes or be protected.
Rafael, a member of one of the displaced families, says that having a peaceful and productive life in his community, they do not even have enough food now.
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“We were evacuated by the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, without knowing the reason or reasons. “Only one of us walked like 150 people in one night,” he says.
For Rafael, originally from El Maguey communityAll this is very painful, “without owing them anything, I tell him, because we are good people.”
He says he and his family were threatened by an armed group that broke into his property. The criminals threw assault rifles and even grenade launchers at children, adults, the elderly, men and women in their village.
One of Rafael’s grandchildren was killed by the drug dealer while trying to save the cattle.
They warned them that if they did not leave, they would be killed, without giving them an explanation as to why they had to abandon their estate for more than 40 years. Thus, in one night, about 150 families had to flee for fear of being killed.
“It simply came to our notice then. We lived very comfortably, very calmly and our life changed overnight for no reason “, laments Rafael.
He says that they lived on agriculture and their animals and that today they have none of this.
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He remembers that when one of his 20-year-old grandchildren tried to save the cattle, he was killed by armed men. Thus, they went from producers and farmers to day laborers. The inhabitants of El Maguey decided to take refuge in Los Reyes, together with some relatives. Now, he says, his alternative is to seek political asylum in United States of America.
Rafael’s brother points out that his life is now precarious because, despite being safe, they have had to start from scratch and sometimes do not even have enough food or rent.
“I want you to know this since the people of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel fell [a la comunidad] we started living a real hell “, he says.
He says his father, an elderly man, died of grief because he left everything he built even more for the death of his nephew.
“Let’s hope that one day God won’t give me money to buy weapons, let’s see if I don’t dare hit them [a los criminales]; what happens is that people are silent, but they can also get tired “, says the man.
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Another displaced person says that after the expulsion of families from El Maguey, the CJNG threatened the inhabitants of El Lobo, where there are now only women and some of their children, exposed to violence by criminals.
They estimate that in both cities there are already about 400 people from 80 families who have been displaced by drug traffickers, without any authority intervening or preventing it.
This, says Luis – another of the displaced – despite the fact that there is a police station in Cotija. National Guard and operational assumptions army.
“But they don’t do anything, because they really protect ‘Jalisco’ and walk with them.
“Imagine what hope we have to live in peace or that this forced displacement will not continue elsewhere,” the subject reproaches.
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The children also remember the fear they felt when they were shot with the criminals’ heads on their heads to force the adults to leave.
They hide from strangers and only show their silhouettes to know carefully what is happening around them; avoid cameras and microphones.
I tell my parents – in a whisper and in some cases with teary eyes and a cracked voice – that they are afraid that someone will hurt them.
Now, families are waiting to know if they will be able to return home or if they will do better in the United States.