Posted: 30 May 2011 03:02 PM PDT
One of the “communications strategies,” however simple, of the Mexican drug cartels entails hanging white cloth banners with messages painted on them from bridges.
The banners usually contain misspelled words, and enough bad grammar to make a schoolteacher wring their hands. But sometimes the messages contain surprising, even explosive, allegations. As best as I can tell, that is why most newspapers don’t carry photos of the banners. If true, the charges could cost jobs and lives.
Eight cloth banners went up this morning around Sinaloa state, ground zero for the narcotics and crime group that bears the state’s name. The banners appear to be the work of the rival Beltran Leyva crime group.
Today’s banners follow an old pattern. They accuse a leading politician of being in the pocket of a rival crime group. The three banners hung in Culiacan this morning allege that Sinaloa Gov. Mario Lopez Valdez (read here where the governor, known as Malova, was in the news recently) is cozy with the Sinaloa cartel and is using a branch of the state police to go after cartel chief Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s rivals. This might fall in the category of “Doh!” Who could get elected in Sinaloa and remain alive except those who reach an agreement with one of the most powerful crime groups on Earth?
Yet there was more. As is the case with some of these banners, it contained a specific allegation, derived probably from the capture of a Sinaloa operative by the Beltran Leyva gang and the application of pressure that would make water-boarding seem like kid’s play.
Here’s what one of the banners said:
“Malova, now that you went to Mexico City did you talk over with the President how you dined with Chapo Guzman on Sept. 6, 2010, at the Kila ranch? Try to deny it. He ordered you to clean out the northern region of Sinaloa so they can get in there and to give information.”
Another banner hung in the town of Guasave in Sinaloa today was directed at the regional military commander:
“General, commander of the 9th zone, the war is not with you. You deserve our respect. Not so the police under Malova who are with Chapo Guzman. They hide behind you. I want you to know that Malova works with El Chapo. Investigate the commander of the special police who is not at all ‘special.’
Now that they mention it, I wonder where Malova was on Sept. 6? The banners, by the way, always get taken down -- really quickly.
The banners usually contain misspelled words, and enough bad grammar to make a schoolteacher wring their hands. But sometimes the messages contain surprising, even explosive, allegations. As best as I can tell, that is why most newspapers don’t carry photos of the banners. If true, the charges could cost jobs and lives.
Eight cloth banners went up this morning around Sinaloa state, ground zero for the narcotics and crime group that bears the state’s name. The banners appear to be the work of the rival Beltran Leyva crime group.
Today’s banners follow an old pattern. They accuse a leading politician of being in the pocket of a rival crime group. The three banners hung in Culiacan this morning allege that Sinaloa Gov. Mario Lopez Valdez (read here where the governor, known as Malova, was in the news recently) is cozy with the Sinaloa cartel and is using a branch of the state police to go after cartel chief Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s rivals. This might fall in the category of “Doh!” Who could get elected in Sinaloa and remain alive except those who reach an agreement with one of the most powerful crime groups on Earth?
Yet there was more. As is the case with some of these banners, it contained a specific allegation, derived probably from the capture of a Sinaloa operative by the Beltran Leyva gang and the application of pressure that would make water-boarding seem like kid’s play.
Here’s what one of the banners said:
“Malova, now that you went to Mexico City did you talk over with the President how you dined with Chapo Guzman on Sept. 6, 2010, at the Kila ranch? Try to deny it. He ordered you to clean out the northern region of Sinaloa so they can get in there and to give information.”
Another banner hung in the town of Guasave in Sinaloa today was directed at the regional military commander:
“General, commander of the 9th zone, the war is not with you. You deserve our respect. Not so the police under Malova who are with Chapo Guzman. They hide behind you. I want you to know that Malova works with El Chapo. Investigate the commander of the special police who is not at all ‘special.’
Now that they mention it, I wonder where Malova was on Sept. 6? The banners, by the way, always get taken down -- really quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment