All of Mexico came to a standstill on October 17, 2019 when the news said that in Culiacán, Sinaloa, chaos was present in the streets and not in a usual way, shootings were everywhere, prisoners escaped, the press described it as a “black thursday”and rumors began to circulate, it was said that a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Ultimately, this series of violent events became known as “El Culiacanazo” and the reasons were revealed.
That day security forces broke into a house, where he lived Ovidio Guzmanas the members of the Sinaloa Cartel They knew what was happening, they mobilized their hitmen, and a faction of the criminal group also went into action, Los Chapitoscommanded by the sons of “El Chapo”, this is how dozens of armed men – as if they were going to war – took to the streets and broke the routine of the people of Culiacán.
While workers in offices, factories and other places were enjoying their lunch break, parents were going to pick up their children and people were in the streets for different reasons, bullets began to sound causing panic among the population, which although it has been going on for years listening to them, I had never seen a similar situation. The phones began to ring, calls warned of the situation or asked loved ones how they were.
Culiacán became a war field In a matter of minutes, the hitmen stripped people of their cars, set them on fire and with them blocked 14 points in the city. People tried to escape, but they couldn’t, they were trapped in the fire, in fear and desperation.
According to Mexican media such as the newspaper El Universal, the hitmen took around twenty soldiers hostage and attacked buildings where military relatives lived. Although law enforcement were the targets, the civilian population was left in the middle of everything.
Social networks exploded with videos of what was happening, They warned those who were not on the streets not to go outthe rest were trying to take shelter and save their lives, you could see people getting out of their vehicles, crouching next to them so as not to be hit by the bullets.
Then there was a riot in the Aguaruto prison, 51 prisoners escaped, were serving sentences for federal crimes that included homicides and drug trafficking. Thus, for more than four hours, Culiacán burned and the forces of order were directly threatened by around 800 heavily armed hitmen, who repelled the arrival of support.
The decision of the president of Mexico
The soldiers surrounded Ovidio Guzmán’s house, but they took a while to enter. When they did, they called him by name and asked him to come out, so he did, handed over his gun and raised his arms, images that went around the world, but The place was besieged by hitmen, including “El Ratón” asked for the violence to stop, but it did not happen.
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, learned of what was happening in Culiacán. He had promised the law enforcement forces that they would not experience situations like in the past, where they were murdered by organized crime, so he ordered that they release Ovid. In this way hell ended in the city.
On October 18, 2019, one day after ‘Culiacanazo’, President López Obrador revealed how the release of Ovidio Guzmán was decided.
“I ordered that this operation be stopped and that the alleged criminal be released,” he said.
pic.twitter.com/roQp22E4Cu— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) January 5, 2023
The next day he was questioned about his decision at his morning press conference, “We are talking about almost the start of a war; You cannot put out fire with fire and it is not about massacres“He explained, adding that he himself ordered the release of the capo, because he did not want to expose the population.
For many, this response showed the weakness of the system in the face of adversity, and also revealed the coordination of the criminal group, which reacted with astonishing speed and coordination.
The second “Culiacanzo”
It was also a Thursday, but on January 5, 2023, when Ovidio Guzmán was arrested for the second time in a house in the Jesús María district, Culiacán, the scenes were repeated: drug blockades, theft and burning of vehicles, shootings, even a plane of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) was shot, the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Chapitos were in action.
According to local media, the authorities asked people not to go out, classes and other activities were suspended, since the events occurred early in the morning, they wanted to avoid a repeat of the situation that occurred three and a half years earlier.
Although the lives of soldiers, police and hitmen were lost, that time Ovid was not freed, was transferred to Mexico City and then to the maximum security prison of El Altiplano, in the State of Mexico. “The main difference between the two black Thursdays would be the geography of criminal activity, more central in 2019,” reported the El País media.
The two arrests of Ovidio Guzmán were due to extradition orders that were against him, despite the protections he processed, this was completed on September 15, Now “El Ratón” is in the United States waiting to be tried for his crimes related to drug trafficking.
Keep reading:
– Prosecutors ask the judge to keep secret recordings against Ovidio Guzmán to protect witnesses.
– Ovidio Guzmán’s lawyer assures that “El Ratón” will not expose Los Chapitos in exchange for an agreement.