Hedging Bets Against the Swine Flu

The chapel of Jesus Malverde, commonly known as the patron saint of narcotraffickers, sits across from Sinaloa State's Government Centre. The State, like all others in Mexico is planning strategy and creating policies that will minimize the impact of a predicted H1N1 pandemic. As everyone knows, most influenza outbreaks are unusual outside of the winter season — but on a day when the temperature hit 47.5 Celsius in Culiacán there were reports that at least 5,000 people had been diagnosed with an infection of the H1N1. virus.

Malverde faithful are known to hedge their bets and the prayers to this putative saint are cross-referenced to recognized saints and Catholic figures such as the Virgen of Guadalupe, San Judeo de Tadeo (figure in background is San Judeo) and others. But this picture of a visitor to the chapel seems to indicate that it might also be wise to put some faith in science and hygiene.

A report about the swine flu and the picture is from Rio Doce, a weekly periodical in Sinaloa.

Politics and the Catholic Mass

Tales of 2 Countries:

and profane sacraments.

I'm certain that most Canadians read about the recent controversy involving a report about Stephen Harper and the "alleged pocketing" of Holy Communion during the funeral mass for the Right Honourable former Governor General Romeo LeBlanc. It had serious consequences for the New Brunswick newspaper St. John Telegraph-Journal—including the resignation of a scion of the powerful Irving family clan from the newspaper and an extremely rare front-page apology to the Prime Minister. (picture above from Milenio.com )

Meanwhile, in Mexico, the Mexican SSP working hand in hand with the American DEA raided a Michoacan church during Mass and held everyone at gunpoint. The action is being defended by the government and it has advanced arguments that there was special protection or tradition limits the use of such force. It did lead to 33 arrests, including that of a big fish nicknamed "La Troca" (Truck) who allegedly is the capo in charge of the largest export of synthetic drugs to the United States.

Here's an English language report of what happened last Saturday evening (August 1, 2009) during a mass to celebrate "la quinceañera" of a parishioner's family in the state of Michoacán Mexico. The federal security forces were looking for leaders of one of the 8 cartels currently involved in a bloody battle with the government and with each other. La Familia de Michoacan is a very strange group of drug dealers who specialize in supplying amphetamines and other synthetic drugs like crystal to the United States and to the Federal District. Their leaders have a messianic "bent" and have distributed documents that are treated like "revelations from god". The group became prominent and burst onto the scene when it threw 5 decapitated heads into a bar in Morelia two years ago.

Two weeks ago, it unleashed a wave of terror across Michoacan after one of its chief leaders ("la Tuta") was arrested. They targeted police and executed 16 in a few days, including 12 at one time. Their bodies were dumped in a pile beside a major highway in the State.

http://www.catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=6646

Mexican bishops criticize federal police for drug raid during Mass

By David Agren Catholic News Service MEXICO CITY – The Mexican Catholic bishops’ conference has criticized federal police for bursting into a Mass in Mexico’s western Michoacan state to apprehend an alleged drug-cartel lieutenant. “We make an energetic protest against the lack of respect and the violence exercised on the part of the forces responsible for guaranteeing the security of all persons in our nation - principally in the state of Michoacan - by interrupting a religious act ... at the moment in which holy Mass is celebrated,” the bishops said in an Aug. 3 statement signed by Auxiliary Bishop Jose Gonzalez Gonzalez of Guadalajara, conference secretary-general. “Nothing explains this kind of action inside a religious place and much less in these moments where Mexico is noted internationally as an insecure and violent country,” the bishops said. The Aug. 1 raid marked the first time that police officers have burst into a parish to arrest suspects linked to organized crime, said Father Mateo Calvillo Paz, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Morelia, which is in Michoacan. The raid also highlighted the increasing vulnerability of church officials and the faithful of being caught up - inadvertently or not - in the ongoing federal crackdown on drug cartels. The raid continued a high-profile crackdown on a cartel known as La Familia Michoacana in President Felipe Calderon’s home state, where some 5,500 federal police and soldiers have been dispatched to fight organized crime. By the end of July, violence from organized crime had claimed more than 250 lives in Michoacan and more than 3,500 lives nationwide, according to the newspaper Reforma. Mexico’s Secretariat of Public Security announced Aug. 3 that federal police officers arrested 33 alleged La Familia members in the raid. The detainees include Miguel Beraza Villa - known as “La Troca” (the Truck) - a cartel lieutenant that Mexican and U.S. authorities allege was responsible for transporting tractor-trailers full of synthetic drugs such as “ice” and “crystal” from the cartel’s clandestine laboratories to the United States via Tijuana, Mexico. Federal police, arriving in armored vehicles and accompanied by two Black Hawk helicopters, raided Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Apatzingan Aug. 1, interrupting a Mass being celebrated in advance of a quinceanera. Local media reported that an estimated 250 attendees and the priest - identified as Father Vicente Soto by the Michoacan news agency Quadratin - were held in the parish for six hours. Media photos of the parish showed dislodged furniture and other minor damage to property. Attempts to reach Father Soto through the Diocese of Apatzingan were unsuccessful. The Secretariat of Public Security said $13,000, 11 luxury vehicles, two assault rifles, 13 fragment grenades and 30 cellular phones were seized. It is uncertain whether any of the weapons were seized inside the parish. Attempts to reach a public security spokesman were unsuccessful. Father Calvillo said police “took advantage of the Mass to assault a large number of ‘narcos’“ and avoid bloodshed, but showed ignorance of the importance of the Mass. Mexico’s bishops, he added, “have rejected all types of protection or calls for arming themselves. It would be a false testimony.” The threat to the well-being of prelates due to the increase in organized crime violence has been the source of some disagreement within the church. Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, told reporters in July that three bishops in Michoacan had been threatened, but both Father Calvillo and a spokesman for the Diocese of Tacambaro told Catholic News Service that the statement was false. Both the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency lauded the Aug. 1 arrests as key accomplishments in Calderon’s battle against organized crime. Security expert Pedro Isnardo de la Cruz of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said La Familia has shown a surprising resilience that “reflects poorly” on the president’s war on organized crime, has demonstrated a “great ability to corrupt” local governments, and also appears to be receiving financing from unknown sources beyond Mexico. Aug 4, 2009

Curious and Strange Names of Narcotraffickers

La Barbie	Las Greñas
El Mochomo	El Pozolero
Los curiosos apodos de los narcos. click on link above for original publication	The curious nicknames of narcotraffickers. The AP English language version is available at the link above.
Los apodos de los narcotraficantes pueden ser llamativos y amenazantes o surreales e inocentes; algunos reflejan el rango de un matón, mientras que otros son arrastrados desde la infancia	The nicknames of narcotraffickers can be striking and threatening or surreal and innocent; some reflect the status (rank) of a killer, while others come from their childhood
APODOS. Un caso que estremeció a México fue el del Pozolero del Teo, un sujeto que disolvió, según su confesión 300 cadaveres en sosa, los hacía pozole en argot narco .	NICKNAMES: A case that made Mexico shudder was that of “El Teo’s Soupmaker”, someone who confessed to dissolving 300 bodies in caustic soda, used to soften corn kernels, and referring to the elimination of bodies in narco jargon.
Edgar Valdez Villareal es probablemente el principal sicario de uno de los cárteles de la droga más sanguinarios de México; ¿su apodo? La Barbie.	Edgar Valdez Villareal is one of the most violent killers for one of the most bloodthirsty cartels in Mexico. His nickname? Barbie!
Sí, como la muñequita de Mattel. Sucede que Valdez nació en Estados Unidos y es rubio, con ojos azules.	That’s right, just like the Mattel doll. It happens that Valdez was born in the United States and is fair skinned with blue eyes.
En el sanguinario bajo mundo del crimen organizado La Barbie es uno de tantos personajes tenebrosos, con apodos tan singulares como Mando Conejo, Talibán o Mono.	In the bloody underworld of organized crime, “La Barbie” is one of the many sinister personalities with unique nicknames like Mando Conejo (Boss Rabbit), Taliban or Mono (Monkey, Ape)
Un caso que estremeció a México fue el del Pozolero del Teo, un sujeto que disolvió, según su confesión, 300 cadáveres en sosa: los hacía pozole en argot narco.	A case that made Mexico shudder was that of “El Teo’s Soupmaker”, someone who confessed to dissolving 300 bodies in caustic soda, used to soften corn kernels, and referring to the elimination of bodies in narco jargon.
Los apodos de los narcotraficantes pueden ser llamativos y amenazantes o surreales e inocentes. Algunos reflejan el rango de un matón, mientras que otros vienen de sus épocas de escolares. También pueden aludir a la reputación del individuo, como en el caso de un mafioso conocido como El más loco.	The nicknames of narcotraffickers can be striking and threatening or surreal and innocent; some reflect the status (rank) of a killer, while others come from their schooldays. They can also refer to the individual’s reputation, such as that of the narco known as “Craziest Man”
Los sobrenombres, como en el caso de La Barbie, con frecuencia no tienen nada que ver con la persona que lo porta.	Many designations, such as Barbie, aren’t very descriptive of the person whom it identifies.
Y a menudo una misma persona usa varios apodos, lo que dificulta la tarea de las autoridades. No sólo es difícil averiguar la identidad real del delincuente, sino que a veces los delatores conocen a un mafioso únicamente por su apodo.	It’s more common for the same person to use different nicknames, and this makes police work more difficult. Not only is it difficult for authorities to verify the real identity of the criminal, but even in the criminal world other people know them only by their handle.
La policía dice que incluye todos los alias posibles de cada sospechoso y hace notar que hay ciertos apodos muy comunes, usados por mucha gente, como El Gordo.	Police say that they consider all possible nicknames used by each suspect and they have to include certain common ones used by many people — such as the ubiquitous Fatty.
No es raro el uso de apodos femeninos, como La Barbie, que generalmente son adosados antes de que una persona demuestre lo que vale, según Homero Aridjis, autor de la novela ''Sicarios''.	It’s not unusual to use feminine nicknames, like "Barbie:, which generally were used before that person demonstrated what he’s really like, says Homero Aridjis (author of the novel “Hitmen:)
''Los apodos son como un segundo bautismo, una incorporación al mundo delictivo'', manifestó.	“The nicknames are like a second baptism, an entry into the criminal world” he believes.
También pueden ser inocentes en una cultura habituada a dar sobrenombres a la gente, incluso desde la infancia, como ocurrió con el asesino a sueldo Israel Nava, conocido toda su vida como El Ostión, hasta que fue asesinado en abril en el norte del país.	They also can be innocent acts in a culture used to giving nicknames to people, even in childhood, just like that which happened with the hired killer Israel Nava who was known all of his life as “Clam”, right up until he was assassinated last April in northern Mexico.
''En teoría, ese debería ser el apodo de alguien que no habla mucho'', comentó Paco Ignacio Taibo II, quien escribe novelas policiales. ''Pero no era así. Lo llamaban Ostión desde la escuela primaria porque su padre tenía un puesto en el que vendía pescados''.	“In theory, this should be the nickname of someone who doesn’t say much” says Paco Ignacio Taibo II who writes crime novels. “But that’s not the case. They've called him this since primary school because his father had a booth where he sold fish”.
Colombia, que produce la mayor parte de la cocaína que pasa por México, también tiene una larga tradición de apodos coloridos. El matón Marco Tulio Moya, muerto en 1999, era tan eficiente en su trabajo que lo llamaban Baygón, por el insecticida del mismo nombre.	Colombia, which produces most of the cocaine that passes through Mexico, also has a long tradition of colourful nicknames. The killer Marco Tulio Moya, killed in 1999, was so good at his job that they called him “By-gone”, after the bug-killer of the same name.
''Si tú vas a un barrio pobre y preguntas por alguien usando su nombre verdadero, nadie sabrá quién es'', manifestó el novelista colombiano Juan José Hoyos.	“If you go to a poor neighbourhood and ask for anyone by the real name, no one will know who that is” says the Columbian novelist Juan José Hoyos.
Muchos de los apodos usados por los colombianos son tan ingenuos como los de los mexicanos. Un hermano del capo Pablo Escobar, Roberto, era llamado Osito porque ese era el nombre de un negocio de bicicletas que tuvo.	Many of the nicknames used by the Colombians are as creative as those used by the Mexicans. Robert, brother of Columbian capo Pablo Escobar, was called “Little Bear” because that was the name of a bicycle business that he owned.
En el caso de Los Zetas, brazo armado del cártel del Golfo, se emplea un estilo militar y asigna a su gente apodos que empiezan con la letra Z, seguida por un número. Z1 al Z10 son miembros fundadores.	In the case of the Zetas, the armed division of the Gulf Cartel, uses a military convention and assigns its people nicknames that begin with the letter Z followed by a number. Z-1 to Z-10 were the founding members.
La letra ''L'', seguida de un número, está reservada para guardaespaldas y ayudantes. Cuanto más alta la cifra, más bajo el rango.	The letter “L”, also followed by a number, is reserved for the body-guards and helpers. The higher the number, the lower the rank.
Algunos conservan su número alto a medida que van escalando posiciones. Otros cambian de apodo, como hizo Iván Velázquez Caballero, que dejó de lado el de L50 y pasó a ser conocido como Talibán.	Some like to keep their high number even after they move up the ladder. Others change their nickname, like Ivan Velazuez Cabellero, who put aside the handle L–50 and came to be known as Taliban.
Las autoridades no saben por qué Armando Santiago Orozco, capturado en enero en el estado de Oaxaca, es conocido como Mando Conejo.	Authorities have no idea why Armando Santiago Orozco, captured last January in Oaxaca is known as “Boss Rabbit”
El capo Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, arrestado el año pasado, es El Mochomo, nombre de una dañina hormiga del noroeste de México.	The capo Alfredo Beltran Leyva, arrested last year, is “Red Fire Ant”, the name of avoracious ant in northwest Mexico.
A menudo los narcotraficantes están encantados con sus apodos.	Most of the time, the narcotraffickers are really attached to their nicknames.
Steve Robertson, veterano agente de la Administración de Lucha contra las Drogas de Estados Unidos (DEA) , dijo que el traficante Gilberto Ontiveros, alias El Greñas, cuando cayó preso en 1989 hizo que otros reclusos confeccionasen pins con cabello artificial parecido al suyo para venderle a los visitantes. Distributed by AP and published in several places. The link in the title is from El Universal Mexico.	Steve Robertson, senior agent of the DEA, says that the trafficker Gilberto Ontiveros, also known as Wild Hair, when taken prisoner in 1989, had other prisoners make souvenir pins with artificial hair resembling his to sell to visitors. (translated by J. Creechan)

Cosala, Sinaloa and the legend of Heraclio Bernal

AQUÍ ESTÁ HERACLIO BERNAL
by Celia Cortés
Lunes 13 de julio de 2009

from Rio Doce (http://www.riodoce.com.mx)

Uno de los primeros corridos que el pueblo aún sigue cantando habla de un bandido que buscaba el Gobierno y fue traicionado por su compadre Crispín. Sí, nos referimos a Heraclio Bernal (1855-1888) a quien, como en vida buscaba el Gobierno para acabar con él y ahora lo buscan los cosaltecos para reivindicar su nombre.
To this day, one of the first corridos sung in Cosala is about a bandit who was hunted by the government and betrayed by his compadre Crispín. Yes, we’re speaking of Heraclio Bernal (1855-1888) whom the government wanted to finish off and the Cosalteco community wants to vindicate.
Mucho se ha hablado de Heraclio Bernal como un asaltante que robaba a los ricos para repartir entre los pobres, que participó en por lo menos 30 asaltos y 10 asesinatos, que lo veían al mismo tiempo en tres lugares distintos, que fue llevado a la cárcel al incriminarlo de robarse unas barras de plata, que lo mismo se vestía de carbonero cuando repartía riqueza entre los pobres, como se vestía de mujer para bailar con el gobernador.
There are many tales of Heraclio Bernal portraying him him as a thief stealing from the rich to share with the poor, and responsible for at least 30 robberies and 10 murders, who was reported to be in three different places at the same time, and who was hauled off to jail after being implicated in a robbery of several bars of silver, or as someone who disguised himself as a charcoal vendor to distribute riches to the poor, and even dressing like a woman to dance with the governor.
Pero además de la figura mítica del bandolero valiente, hoy, en vísperas de festejar el centenario de la Revolución Mexicana, hay una comisión que pretende reivindicar su nombre y buscan que se le reconozca como un visionario precursor de dicha lucha armada, con una visión que anticipó 25 años la decisión de muchos otros de poner fin al gobierno de Porfirio Díaz. Dicha comisión está integrada por miembros de La Crónica de Sinaloa, y son apoyados por el Gobierno del municipio de Cosalá, por ser donde más se ha querido a esta figura histórica.
But more than a mythical and valiant bandit figure, today, on the cusp the centenary celebrations of the Mexican Revolution, there’s a commission aiming to rehabilitate his reputation and honour his role as a 25 year precursor of the revolutionary views that eventually brought down the Porifirio Diaz government. The commission consists of members of the La Cronica de Sinaloa who are joined by members of the municipal government of Cosalá, where this historic figure is much beloved.

Y el caso es que Heraclio Bernal Zazueta, quien nació en Chaco, en el municipio de San Ignacio, y tras estudiar la primaria y en el Seminario, vivió en el pueblo minero de Guadalupe de los Reyes, donde trabajó buen tiempo hasta que lo incriminaron del robo de unas barras de plata, por lo que fue a parar a la cárcel de Mazatlán.
It’s the tale of Heraclio Bernal Zazueta, born in Chaco, in San Ignacio municipality, and who after completing primary studies in a seminary, lived and worked in the mining community of Guadalupe de Los Reyes for a long period until incriminated in the theft of silver bars, and then dumped in the Mazatlan jail.
Ahí, en el presidio, conoció a un español socialista que le facilitó textos de Marx, Backoumine, LaSalle, Saint-Simon, Owen y Proudhon, y fue donde Bernal se convenció de que los ricos eran unos ladrones de la riqueza del pueblo, dejando en la miseria a los trabajadores.
In that presidio, he met up with a Spanish socialist who familiarized him with the works of Marx, Backoumine, LaSalle, Saint-Simon, Owen and Proudhon, and it was here where he became convinced that the rich were stealing people’s wealth and leaving the workers in a miserable plight.
Escapa de prisión y decide vengarse. Regresa a Guadalupe de los Reyes y acaba con quien lo inculpó y luego con ex convictos y campesinos empiezan a asaltar diligencias de los hacendados para luego repartir lo robado entre los pobres.
Escaping from prison, he decided to exact revenge. Returning to Guadalupe de los Reyes, he wiped out those who had implicated him and then, in the company of ex-convicts and campesinos, began a systematic assault on landholders to distribute the booty to the poor.
Con el tiempo se unió primero a Ramírez Terrones, después a García de la Cadena con quien propuso al pueblo que se levantara en armas, primero con el Plan de la Rastra, más tarde con el Plan de Conitaca, lanzado en 1887, donde hablaban de acabar con el gobierno de Porfirio Díaz, instruyendo a las trabajadores para mejorar sus salarios, hablaba en contra del despojo que el Gobierno hacía del pueblo yaqui, a quien prometía que les devolvería sus tierras y hablaba también de la “no reelección”.
Eventually, he joined up with Ramírez Terrones, and then with García de la Cadena with whom he incited people into an armed uprising, first through the Plan de La Rastra, and later by the Plan de Conitaca which was proclaimed in 1887. It spoke of terminating the Porifio Diaz government, taught workers that they should earn more, denounced the pillage sponsored by the government against the Yaqui people, and promised to return lands and even addressed the issue of “no re-election”.
Por supuesto que Porfirio Díaz ordenó su persecución, lo mismo que el gobernador de Sinaloa, y aunque Heraclio Bernal conocía muy bien la sierra, una pulmonía le impidió irse al extranjero como lo tenía planeado, y aunque se indica que su compadre Crispín lo traicionó, la gente en Cosalá indica que fueron órdenes del propio Bernal a su compadre que le diera un balazo y él mismo lo entregara para que la recompensa se la dieran a él y la repartiera al pueblo.
In response, Porfirio Diaz ordered that he be hunted down, and the governor of Sinaloa did the same. Even though Heraclio Bernal knew the mountainous terrain, pneumonia thwarted a plan to flee abroad— and even though some say that his compadre Crispin betrayed him, the people of Cosala say it was Bernal himself who directed his compadre to shoot him and later collect the reward so that it could be distributed to the people.
En el coloquio que el pasado miércoles se organizó en Cosalá, tras varias ponencias de expertos e historiadores, donde se habló de la admiración que Francisco Villa tuvo por este luchador social, escuchamos a Teodora Mendoza, quien indicó que su padre fue colaborador de Heraclio Bernal, y tras su muerte, Crispín le dio las monedas que le correspondían como a muchos otros del pueblo, mismas que ahora ella ha entregado a quienes promueven la reivindicación de su nombre y exposición de imágenes del precursor de ideas revolucionarias.
In a seminar organized last Wednesday in Cosalá, several presentations by historical experts reported Francisco Villa’s admiration for this socal activist, and afterwards Teodora Mendoza said that his father had been a collaborator of Heraclio Bernal. He reported that after Bernal’s death, it was Crispin who distributed coins from the reward to the community. Many of those people and their families are now promoting the vindication of Bernal’s reputation, and supporting the exhibition of the exhibits which are precursors of revolutionary ideas.
Al finalizar el coloquio Aquí Está Heraclio Bernal se hizo una visita al panteón de Cosalá, donde indican descansan los restos del bandolero generoso, aunque hay controversia de si se encuentran en el osario o junto a la pared de la antigua entrada al panteón, de donde lugareños platican que Paquis Corrales, ex presidenta municipal, retiró la cruz que decía Heraclio Bernal, por lo que hoy sigue siendo válida la frase “Se busca a Heraclio Bernal”, pero los que se lo han propuesto lo buscan para llevar sus restos a la Rotonda de los Sinaloenses Ilustres y planean poner su nombre en letras de oro en el Congreso estatal; pero la empresa que se proponen es realizar una estatua ecuestre que se instalará en el pueblo mágico de Cosalá antes de que acabe el año, para lo cual han convocado a personalidades cosaltecas y sinaloenses entre las que se incluye al gobernador Jesús Aguilar Padilla. Es una ardua empresa, pero Heraclio Bernal luchó toda su vida por apoyar a quienes menos tenían y en pro de la justicia social.
At the end of the seminar “Here is Heraclio Bernal”, there was a visit to the cemetery of Cosalá, where the remains of the generous bandit were pointed out. There is controversy about whether he’s in the tomb where locals say a former mayor, Paquis Corrales, removed a cross with the name Heraclio Bernal— or whether he is next to the wall at the entrance to the old cemetery. Even today, the phrase “Wanted: Heraclio Bernal” continues to be meaningful. But there are those who have proposed looking for his remains and bringing them to the Rotunda of Illustrious Sinaloans and putting his name in gold letters there in the State Congress. However, the organization has proposed erecting an equestrian statue in the magical community of Cosalá before the year end, and this is the favoured option of Cosala dignitaries and Sinaloans, including Governor Jesús Aguilar Padilla. It’s an arduous undertaing, but Heraclio Bernal fought his entire life to help those had less and on behalf of social justice.

(translated by J.Creechan)

Link to the Corrido of Heraclio Bernal