October 30, 2010: SMACKDOWN IN THE PLAZA
At
approximately 1:20 yesterday afternoon Jesus Ruben Maldonado Marmolejo,
alias ‘el Dragon’ and Jose Maria Gonzalez, aka ‘el Guero’ (the Blond)
aka ‘el Chema’, were walking down the steps in front of the Santo
Domingo church in the heart of Oaxaca’s Central Historical District when
two red and white motorcycles pulled up next to them. Gunmen riding on
the back of the bikes opened fire and el Dragon and el Guero went down
in a hail of hot lead.
Even though it was midday in one of the most crowded and trafficked areas of the city, the assassins escaped.
The
police showed up, removed the two bodies, scoured the crime scene for
bullet casings and hosed the blood off the stones. They tracked down el
Dragon’s Black Hummer, which was parked a few blocks away, and
discovered 3 cases of 9 mm cartridges, 3 cell phones and a portfolio
containing suspicious “diverse documents.”
Exactly three hours
later Jon and I were standing at the center of the crime scene, unaware
of what had taken place earlier. We were watching a group of children
gather for a Halloween parade. We first learned about the murders from
friends that night just as we sat down for a lecture at the Biblioteca
Henestorsa entitled Music and Death in the Oaxaca Valley.
This morning, as is the custom around here, both Imparcial & Noticas, the local daily papers, featured large color photos of the bullet ridden bodies in the plaza.
I
don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, but it was probably a poor
decision on the part of Marmolejo to assume a macho nickname like ‘el
Dragon.’ Isn’t this just inviting trouble? Wouldn’t it be better to be
known as, say, el hombre querido (the beloved man) or el hombre compasivo (the compassionate man)?
But
this was the least of their bad life choices. Gonzalez had been
arrested in 2007 for fraud and Marmolejo was described in the press as a
henchman (un esbirro) and bodyguard of a general secretary in
the moribund Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Jorge “el Chucky”
Franco Vargas. Vargas is named after the murderous doll in the American
slasher movies. Shouldn’t a nickname like that automatically preclude
one from a position of public authority?
The papers also reported that both men were porros. A porro
is a member of a mercenary gang associated with Mexican universities.
They are street thugs for hire who act as an informal paramilitary force
inside universities to prevent the rise of student opposition
movements. Marmolejo was a porro at the Universidad Autonoma “Benito
Juarez” de Oaxaca and he organized death squads (‘las caravanas de la muerte’) against students during the 2006 uprising.
My
friends suspect that el Dragon and el Guero may have been taken down by
a leftist hit squad. Ulises Ruiz, current lame-duck governor of the
State of Oaxaca and member of the PRI, is widely hated. He has been
accused of genocide and various acts of repression against indigenous
people. There are signs around the zocalo in Oaxaca calling for
his prosecution and imprisonment. This summer Gabino Cue Monteagudo was
elected governor by a coalition of center left voters. Perhaps el
Dragon’s victims decided the moment was ripe for a settling of scores.
Of course, this is just speculation. Undoubtedly, these hombres violentos had many enemies.
Artículo del blog http://www.thereisnogap.com/
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