Rosa Icela Rodríguez during the presidency’s morning conference this Tuesday. Galo Cañas Rodríguez (Cuartoscuro)
The government of Guerrero announced this Tuesday that, after a dialogue table, the demonstrators decided to release the 13 security force officers who had held them after yesterday’s protests. They also agreed to lift the blockade of the Autopista del Sol, the main highway in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, which has been closed since this morning. Given the narrative local leaders are trying to push through – that this is nothing more than a protest for better roads – Rosa Icela Rodríguez, Mexico’s Public Security Minister, assures that the goal of the demonstrations is the release of two leaders of the criminal group Los Ardillos in the region, who were arrested by authorities last week and many of whom “had been forced to demonstrate”. Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda is proud of the “dialogue policy” that has made it possible to defuse a situation seemingly stagnant at the hands of organized crime operating in the region.
The situation on the highway and in the city is gradually returning to normal. Shops are starting to open their doors and vendors are already back on the streets of the capital. Mayor Norma Otilia Hernández has reappeared after an absence of a few days. Walking the streets, he has acknowledged the importance of the local economy and offered advice to other presidents and governors: “When crises are over, I would like to recommend to other governors to go out and give people security,” although it is lacking in these days of the chaos and riots. During the live video, which she broadcast on Facebook for more than an hour, the mayor made no mention of the meeting between her and the Los Ardillos leader, with whom she spoke at a restaurant in town.
Of the officers arrested by the protesters, five were members of the National Guard, five were members of the State Police and the other three were members of the state government secretariat. Rosa Icela Rodríguez has assured that the protests and blockades have nothing to do with the lack of roads claimed by the protesters, but with the arrest of two criminal leaders of the Los Ardillos criminal group a few days ago. “They have also been linked to various crimes in the area and have been arrested for possession of weapons and drug offenses,” the headline read.
According to the authorities, the leaders of the protests are also linked to Los Ardillos. Gilmar Jaír Sereno, a 39-year-old man who organized similar demonstrations in Quechultenango in Guerrero in 2022 and also kidnapped military personnel, was identified as the main speaker. They called for the release of a person arrested by security forces who belonged to Los Ardillos, with whom the spokesman says the authorities have ties. The other leader of the protests is Guillermo Matías Marrón, self-proclaimed president of the Organization of Guerrero Commissars. He owns a construction company and has several criminal cases related to the criminal group operating in the region.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the President of Mexico, wanted to address the farmers and other demonstrators. “Don’t be manipulated by those who run these crime-related gangs,” said the president, who also urged citizens to act cautiously and not engage with criminals. “That they remain silent but do not allow themselves to be manipulated.” The protests, which began yesterday with the blockade of Autopista del Sol, the main street in Chilpancingo, continued this morning with new roadblocks and thousands of protesters marching through the center of the capital went and demanded new roads.
Meanwhile, various representatives met at a dialogue table with the Guerrero authorities to discuss new investments in their territories. The General Secretariat of Government assures that its staff are in contact with the protesters from communities in the central and lower mountainous regions of the state who are maintaining the blockade at the height of the Parador del Marqués. Ludwig Reynoso Núñez, the owner, chaired a dialogue table to talk about his road infrastructure demands list. Shops remain closed on the streets, classes have been suspended across the region and uncertainty remains about the end of this new violent organized crime attack. “We can stay here as long as it takes,” said one of the farmers during the meeting with the authorities.
The mayor of Chilpancingo, Norma Otilia Hernández, spotted meeting the leader of Los Ardillos in a restaurant in the capital, has appeared in the media after several days of silence. Of their meeting, he said it was a “cyclical moment,” a “chance encounter” and that there was “nothing wrong” with what he did. When asked about the public demand for her resignation, the mayor replied that she had no intention of resigning. “It’s not sticking to one position, but we’re still going to keep building,” said the mayor, who has tried to distance herself from the current chaotic situation in her city: “They don’t have anything to do with the investigations, currently being carried out on the problems of these situations [las protestas]“.
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