Breathe
By Claudia Pérez Atamoros
IN GUERRERO THERE ARE NO MISSING PERSONS: ALL ARE DEAD
Rubén Figueroa, Constitutional Governor of the State of Guerrero, 1975-1981.
In these dates that lend themselves to nostalgic memories, there is nothing like remembering that Mexico that has gone...
There was -was? - a time of real terror and horror in Mexico and particularly in the State of Guerrero.
Back in the 1970s, Lucio Cabañas, a graduate of the Ayotzinapa Rural School (sound familiar?) formed the armed group Partido de los Pobres in the sierra of Atoyac in defense of the rights of the Guerrero peasantry exploited by the region's caciques, politicians and narco-criminals.
In 1972 Rubén Figueroa was the King Midas of transportation in the State, a personal friend of Echeverría and senator for Guerrero. A braggart like few others and a gubernatorial aspirant, he boasted in the purest style of Gastón N. Santos (another challenging politician) that he "had them very well in place" and that, if he won the candidacy, he would put an end to the guerrillas. Moreover, he addressed a direct message to Lucio Cabañas. He denied that he was a guerrilla, called him a delinquent and challenged him to be kidnapped: "I believe that the truck drivers could pay a good ransom for me".
Lucio did not respond but "kept it to himself". By 1974, Figueroa Figueroa won the candidacy and as an act of good faith and in search of pacification in the state (!) declared to the press that he was willing to meet with Cabañas and offer him to lay down his arms and join the political game in Guerrero. The reality, they say, was different. Behind the scenes, the all-powerful man had said "off the record" that "he would be in charge of taking him by the ear to the PRI convention where he would be invested as the official candidate.
Lucio Cabañas agreed to meet with Ruben Figueroa and, unbeknownst to him, accepted the challenge launched two years earlier and proceeded to kidnap him. He pulled him inland after the meeting on May 30 of that year. The saying that a talker is quicker to fall than a cripple became an undeniable fact.
Unfortunately, the power of the State was dropped all over the Guerrero highlands in search not only of the candidate for governor but also of the personal and unconditional friend of President Luis Echeverría, who had enough with the September 23 League.
Among the conditions for his release were that the military leave the area and the payment of 50 million pesos. Cabañas went on the rampage carrying the governor for a little more than 3 months until on September 8, an aggressive operation succeeded in freeing Rubén Figueroa. Lucio Cabañas and his people managed to flee but the persecution became relentless. The military order was clear: "eliminate them, destroy them, annihilate them, Lucio the guerrilla and his gang of gunmen".
The hunt ended with the assassination of Lucio Cabañas on December 2, 1974 and allowed the "dirty war in the region" to continue. It is well known and documented, as the bodies thrown into the sea from helicopters...
That phrase rings and resonates.
IN GUERRERO THERE ARE NO MISSING PERSONS: ALL ARE DEAD
Rubén Figueroa, Constitutional Governor of the State of Guerrero, 1975-1981.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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