Palmas Altas, a northern state in Zacatecas, was recently captured by security forces. There are no surviving residents, except for a few dogs that have been well fed and who walk under the blazing sun.
An abandoned pickup truck that has been burned to the ground is found at the village’s entrance. It sits on an uninhabited plateau at the foothills of the mountains.
Graffiti signed “CJNG”, warning that the area is under control by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Their leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, is one of America’s most wanted fugitives with a $10 Million bounty on his head.
Matthew Donahue , DEA agent, stated that he is the priority of DEA and federal law enforcement in the United States.
The Department of Justice considers Jalisco cartel “one of five most dangerous transnational criminal organisations in the world.”
The acronym “CJNG”, which was written on a nearby wall, has been covered with black paint to make room for “CDS” — the name of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, a prisoner in drug kingpin and leader of the Sinaloa cartel.
The two cartels have been fighting for Palmas Altas, Zacatecas, whose main city, a colonial centre known for its Baroque style architecture, has been the state’s drug trafficking routes to the United States. They also control ports along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coastlines.
“Either you go or you die.”
Miguel, a 40-year-old farmer whose name has been changed by AFP to protect his identity, said that life in the village took a terrible turn in February 2013.
They began to kidnap and beat people. They murdered a father and son. He says that fear made them leave.
One year later, only five families remained.
A chilling warning was issued: “Either leave or you will die.”
The message was loud and clear: the village was completely deserted from February.
Miguel took refuge in Jerez, 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. He hopes to be able prune his fruit trees thanks to the deployment security forces.
He says, “Because we can’t do it alone.”
According to authorities, 2,000 people were forced from their homes in the region.
Marco Vargas, Jerez security secretary, says that they want them to return home. He is speaking in his office in the town which attracts tourists with its cobbled streets & ornate churches.
He adds, “We’re going keep the forces of order in order to prevent possible incursions and a return to organized crime.”
Nancy Reyes is not comforted by this, as her son vanished in 2021 while on his way to visit his fiancee.
“Nobody helps us,” Reyes says.
This teenager is among the 95,000 missing people in Mexico.
Ricardo Bermeo Padilla is a representative of a group that tracks missing persons and says the uncertainty is “continuous torture for families”.
“People who do wrong”
Zacatecas is not new to insecurity. In fact, Zacatecas was the battleground for the Gulf Cartel (violent Los Zetas) in the 2010s.
Violence has been a regular occurrence since the arrival of Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels to fight for control.
In January, 10 bodies found in an abandoned sport utility vehicle were discovered in front of the governor’s palace in Zacatecas’ historic center.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the “provocation” of the dumping bodies in public places.
After the Sunday sermon, Zacatecas bishop Sigifredo Noriega Barcelo confesses to his red-stone cathedral and its beautifully carved façade that he would love to talk with “people who do not do evil.”
He adds that “unfortunately there are not interlocutors.” There are many groups that divide and subdivide.
Mexican tourists use the cable car to reach a viewing point in the city’s secure center. From there, they can see Zacatecas, whose historical heart is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The evening is a time when lovers are seen kissing, and hundreds of children watch as a clown laughs on the steps near the cathedral.
Rosita Franco, Guadalupe Museum director, said that Zacatecas has more to it than the cartel conflict and invited visitors to return to the museum for a Baroque Festival in September.
She recalls that even King Felipe VI of Spain lingers at the museum’s library collection from 16-19th centuries and its galleries, during a 2015 visit with Queen Letizia.
Franco is reluctant to speak about violence beyond Guadalupe, which lies outside of Zacatecas.
“We believe in the culture that promotes peace. She says that art can change lives. Art and culture are human right.