MEXICO.- A sheet with a message presumably from a narco member, known as a "narcomanta", was found yesterday afternoon in a highschool located in a town between Iguala and Taxco, Guerrero. The message scrolled on the "narcomanta" states that "El Cabo Gil", a Deputy of Sidronio Casarrubias Salgado, the chief leader of the "Guerreros Unidos" cartel, states that the 43 missing students are still alive and will be released if the Federal Government detains at least 80% of the cartel, including Guerrero's missing mayor.
In order to facilitate the request, "Gil" lists the names of political representatives and high-profile persons that are supposedly involved with organized crime and should be rounded up, including mayors and directors of Public Security of the municipalities of Taxco de Alarcon, Huitzuco, Tepecoacuilco, Apaxtla and Cocula.
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Federico Figueroa, Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU), who also happens to be the brother of famous singer Joan Sebastian, is also named on the list, along with the captain and lieutenant of the 27th Infantry, called Barbosa y Crespo. The rest of those named are well-known cartel associates of the Guerreros Unidos cartel.
"Here are the names Mr. President, and once you have detained 80% of them I will give myself up; and I will tell you how things have been going down, and what we are dealing with, because I am not the only guilty one. The chiefs and bosses are the Cosarrubias and the Los Tilos. Don't confuse the community, say things as they are and tell them that the students are alive. Sincerely, Gil " said an excerpt of the message directed toward Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto.
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This message from "El Cabo Gil" was hung as a response to the arrest of his direct boss, Sidronio Casarrubia, who was detained on October 16th as the person responsible for the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa students.
The hope of finding the normalista students alive has been widely circulated by Guerrero's interim mayor, Rogelio Ortega Martínez, who declared some findings point towards this belief.
"They have told me, and that brings me hope, that the very Ayotzinapa kids believe that their missing friends are alive", said Martinez in a recent interview. If that is so, "El Gil" may be the most important piece of the puzzle to help find the missing students, although for the moment, authorities have not stated an official opinion.
Elizabeth.rosales@sandiegored.com
