“Char” for Borderland Beat
This article was translated and reposted from RÍODOCE
WRITTEN BY: MIGUEL ANGEL VEGA
Chapo Guzmán’s mother was watched only by friends and family
In a private event, and protected by dozens of gunmen who had arrived from Culiacán, Santiago de los Caballeros, La Majada, Tameapa, and other towns in Sinaloa, as confirmed by people who were at the funeral, Mrs. Consuelo Loera Pérez was finally taken to her last resting place: a discreet tomb in the pantheon of La Tuna, where the remains of other relatives rest, including her husband, Don Emilio Guzmán Bustillos.
“We were on guard and we were asked for support, but not because there were very important people, but as a care for the family,” said a young gunman, who asked that his identity not be revealed, and preferred not to mention the faction for which he works.
The area of La Tuna, in the mountain area of the municipality of Badiraguato, had been sealed off since Sunday afternoon, December 10, the date on which Doña Consuelo died, since people close to the Guzmán Loera family requested respect to say goodbye to the Chapo’s mother, since it was expected that there would be “very important people”, as the sources referred to characters such as Aureliano Guzmán Loera, Guano, and high-level people who are part of the cartel’s leadership, including friends and acquaintances of the family.
“El Guano was around here, but he came and went. Because, although he was very attached to Doña Consuelo, he almost didn’t stop by the town because he knew that they were looking for him and he didn’t want to trust himself, even though the people who were at the funeral were family, friends, and people he trusted,” he said. one of the attendees.
“But, even so, that man never takes good care of himself,” said another person consulted by Ríodoce.
“We were not aware that Aureliano Guzmán Loera was at that funeral,” said Sedena sources, although without specifying whether they had mounted an operation during Doña Consuelo’s wake.
In one of the videos circulating on social networks, a crown of approximately 200 red roses could be seen, where a ribbon with the printed name of Joaquín Guzmán Loera could be seen, and later another even larger crown with pink and white roses, in the one whose legend can barely be read: “from his son Aureliano.”
According to several local media outlets that tried to cover the funeral, no one was even allowed to reach La Tuna, since 10 kilometers before, near the La Lagunita ranch, there was a checkpoint of three young gunmen who stopped any vehicle that appeared. approached the area, and if the occupants were not known or if they discovered that they were journalists, they would return them, but not before intimidating them so that they would not take photos or publish anything.
“We didn’t find out that journalists came,” commented a resident of La Tuna, when questioned about the privacy with which the funeral and burial were handled. “And well, there have always been armed people throughout the mountains, but no one knew that journalists were not allowed to arrive.”
Finally, Doña Consuelo’s remains were deposited in the same tomb as her parents: Don Ovidio Loera Cobret and Doña Pomposa Pérez Uriarte. Without greater tributes than silence, tears, and memories.
The mother of a ‘legend’
Doña María Consuelo Loera Pérez was 94 years old when reporting to the creator. According to the Navy, “she was the mother of a legend,” because her son Joaquín, Chapo Guzmán, had put the governments of Mexico and the United States in check on several occasions, because not only could they not catch him for almost 15 years of relentless search, according to the DEA and the Mexican army between 2001 and 2014, but they escaped twice from maximum security prisons, in January 2001, and in July 2015.
“Whenever we arrived for him, he had escaped within minutes, even the sheets where he was sleeping were still warm,” said a brigadier general of the presidential General Staff who tried to capture Guzmán Loera between 2007 and 2011.
The person who would have raised Guzmán Loera, not to give up and be organized, would be Doña Consuelo, as everyone referred to the lady.
Walking slowly due to the same weight of years, Doña Consuelo was born and raised on the La Lagunita ranch, in Badiraguato, until she met Don Emilio Guzmán Bustillos, almost 80 years ago, whom she married and later moved to La Tuna, where both resided until the rest of their days.
From that union Joaquín, Aureliano, Miguel Ángel, Arturo, Armida and Bernarda Guzmán Loera were born. In an area where there is no social or economic development, the Guzmán Loera family survived time and lack, and as Doña Consuelo confessed during an interview given to this weekly newspaper at the end of 2015, they were difficult times, and all her children had to cooperate. in daily tasks to be able to get ahead.
“We sold toast and golden tacos outside the house, and everyone helped me cut the vegetables and serve the customers, and Chapo brought soft drinks or fruits to make flavored water,” Doña Consuelo recalled during that interview.
When asked specifically about how she was referring to her son, Doña Consuelo seemed surprised by the question, and very naturally responded: Well… “Chapo.”
The nickname would have been given after a brother of Doña Consuelo went to visit the family after months of absence, and after seeing the infant again when he was 3 years old, he was surprised to see how much he had grown, but also because how broad-shouldered and strong he looked: “There’s Chapito the kid,” the uncle exclaimed. Since then, the entire family and the entire town referred to Joaquín Guzmán Loera as “El Chapo.”
Doña Consuelo continued to work hard, but when her son reached adolescence, he began to do the only thing that the young people of the town and the region knew how to do to earn a little money: he worked in the poppy field and marijuana planting.
Life led him to form an empire, and Doña Consuelo found out through the media how she was gaining notoriety. At that point, Doña Consuelo only had one way out: to pray for her son: to ask for her well-being.
“I am his mother, and whether good or bad, I am still his mother, and I only ask God to take care of him, and I ask him to get closer to God because that is the only way out,” Doña Consuelo said then.
Loera Pérez died on December 10 in a private clinic in Culiacán.
Article published on December 17, 2023 in edition 1090 of the weekly Ríodoce.