Residents of Taxco light up the nights of the Pueblo Mágico to call for an end to violence

Taxco de Alarcón is a magical town in Guerrero that today is besieged by organized crime. (PHOTO: MAURICIO MARAT/INAH/CUARTOSCURO.COM)

Fed up with the violence that plagues them, the inhabitants of the magical town of Taxco de Alarcón turned on the lights of their houses to illuminate the dark night as a sign of protest and demand to recover the peace that organized crime has taken from them.

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The image could well be confused with a concert where the audience is asked to turn on their cell phones to follow the rhythm of a melody; but that is not the case, the inhabitants of Taxco, and in general all of Guerrero, have been living for years at the rhythm set by the drug traffickers and listening to the endless sound of shootings.

In videos shared by residents on their social networks, residents can be heard shouting “Long live Taxco” and “We want peace” while the cameras focus from above on the illuminated silver city at 9 p.m. last Wednesday.

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The reaction of the inhabitants responds to the threats of organized crime: extortions and homicides for control of the plaza between Los Tlacos and La Familia Michoacana; but they also occur after the statements of Mayor Mario Figueroa Mundo who described the wave of violence in Taxco as “little potholes.”

They light up the night of Taxco to demand peace from drug traffickers and the Government Credit: @Libro_negro_

Allegations that not even a beer can be sold in Taxco without the permission of organized crime have been in the files of local authorities for months; However, the residents who lived for years in the shadow of the cartels exploded when a public transportation driver was murdered on the afternoon of January 20.

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A few days before the violence broke out, the mayor asked the Guerrero Congress for authorization to travel to Spain and be part of the state delegation that would participate in the Madrid Tourist Fair, so he would not be in charge of Taxco from the 22nd to the 28th. of this month.

The mayor traveled and in his absence a transport strike was called to demand an end to the violence; A day later they murdered a family member of the Unión Ganadera; On Tuesday the 23rd, the disappearance of two ministerial agents on the Taxco-Pilcaya highway was reported, whose bodies were found on the morning of the 24th by residents of the indigenous community of Tlamacazapa.

The violence did not stop there and several shootings were recorded in the city, which led society to demand the suspension of classes at all educational levels: thus, Guerrero was left without classes, without transportation and without a mayor.

Citizens traveling in Civil Protection vehicles due to the transport strike. (X/@AytoTaxco)

“Here we are working, we were going for six days but unfortunately this is happening (…) These little bumps are going to continue happening, I am here to show my face,” were the first words of the mayor of Taxco upon his return to the city.

To solve the lack of public transportation, it was ordered to use Municipal Police patrols, DIF and Civil Protection vehicles to transport residents in order to guarantee their “right to mobility.”

According to journalist Raymundo Rivapalacio, in addition to control of the plaza, “political control” of Taxco is at stake, since one of the co-founders of Los Tlacos (Humberto Moreno Catalán) is a first cousin of the former Secretary of Urban Development. Mario Moreno Arcos; In addition to the possibility that they have the protection of Governor Evelyn Salgado.

In this violent context that began last weekend with the murder of a driver who refused to continue being a drug hawk, the church bells of Taxco rang and the residents lit lights, candles and their cell phones to cry for the end of violence and the return of peace to the magical town.