Photo: Manuel Ocaño / Impremedia
The state of Baja California and the city of Tijuana slowly returned to calm this Sunday after a Friday of terrorist acts and a Saturday of deserted streets.
“All the security elements are deployed in the streets of Baja California”, said Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila, “municipal, state, National Guard, Secretary of Defense, the Navy”.
The Army reinforced on Saturday with 311 Special troops sent surveillance in Tijuana and the National Guard 50 additional staff.
The governor stated that all the forces are “in permanent tours, and in constant operations”.
In one of those security procedures, troops in open vehicles have escorted public transport units Saturday and Sunday, after the minibuses called taxi Road buses were one of the targets of organized crime in the wave of violence that began in a coordinated manner on Friday at 6 pm in different cities.
Criminal groups set fire in a few hours to 17 vehicles in Baja California, 17 of them in Tijuana and in its majority public collective transportation units.
Erwin, a Honduran migrant currently in a shelter on the outskirts of Tijuana, told Real America News by telephone that the Friday around 7 pm men armed with assault rifles stopped a minibus on the Divina Providencia route in which it was traveling with other migrants, forced all the passengers to get off and immediately set the unit on fire.
“They didn’t shoot anyone, they shouted orders at us but we did get very scared. I thought, look, flee from there [his land] because of the violence and end up here because of the violence, but fortunately nothing happened to us, thank God,” he indicated.
The Secretary of Security of Baja California, General Gilberto Landeros, explained that the state forces “what they are doing is supporting mainly the tourist areas in Rosarito, the Wine Route, Valle de las Palmas and the places where the greatest number of people are concentrated.
The security command center also reported that highways in the state are secured by the Army, the National Guard and the Navy.
In the minds of the tourists, however, it could weigh on the fact that the United States Consulate General in Tijuana ordered on Friday afternoon its employees to remain in their homes until further notice. As of Sunday, the order was still in place.
In some of the main avenues of Tijuana, the presence of armed soldiers and policemen was easily seen.
Municipal police it also carries out joint operations and on its own.
On Saturday evening, a patrol reported seeing a vehicle reported as stolen. Moments later, when the driver was arrested, there were at least a dozen patrols in the area.
Until this Sunday, the authorities and military forces They have arrested eight suspects involved in the series of vehicle burnings in Tijuana.
The mayor of Tijuana, Montserrat Caballero, urged the city’s residents to take to the streets and not be intimidated, especially with the support of the military and police both in areas
However, the mayor was the target of criticism and memes because in a few-minute video speech said that “we tell organized crime to collect the bill from those who owe it, not from citizens.” Many people considered that he was referring to the “floor collection”, or extortion of merchants and residents.
On Saturday, Tijuana residents expressed admiration that places such as shopping centers and avenues generally with a lot of vehicular traffic were empty.
On Sunday the city began to return to normal but still with very few people on the streets.
In the cathedral, Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón said shortly before beginning Sunday mass that “it is natural that people, in the face of their pain, in the face of fear, react with this mistrust.”
“However, I believe that we also have to trust the authorities, because if we lose our trust in them, then we are totally defenseless”, said the priest.
“We have to trust and that vote of confidence in the authorities, I buy them goal more with society”, he added.
The archbishop stressed that “life has to go on; we cannot seclude ourselves, hide in the face of violence. Of course, we have to avoid it, be careful, but a father of a family has to continue working for his children, young people have to continue their studies, companies have to continue working”.