El Sicario: The Autobiography of a Mexican Assassin

by Charles Bowden

  And so what is happening is the explosion of drug use in Mexico. Mexico has now passed from being an exporter and transporter of drugs and is now a consumer country. Now you can see people begging in the streets, people selling gum at intersections, people passed out in the streets, people robbing old women to get money to supply their drug habits. And where will all these people go when they try to reform themselves? All of the people begging in the streets are completely rejected by society. There is no place for them, except for these shelters, these Christian shelters.

  And these people when they leave the shelters and end up in prison [CERESO, Centro de Readaptación Social (Center for Social Rehabilitation)] because they have committed robberies, and they are declared mentally ill, the only thing left is to send them back to a shelter. Because the government which instructed and trained people in their schools and academies, the government that trained elements who are then handed over to work for the narcos, they then end up in charge of all these people who are thrown away because they are no longer capable of productive work.

  What is it that is not convenient for the government? Why doesn’t the government do anything to stop this?

  Because the government is involved in the billions of dollars that are made in this business.

  The government does not want a solution. What are they saying now about the government of Mexico? That the government is taking action, using the army to resolve this problematic situation. But the situation is that the power of the narco-trafficking organizations has overtaken the power of the government. The narcos will not allow the government to control them.

  The president of Mexico says, “I am in control. I will control this using my army.” But the degree of corruption is so high that it cannot be brought under control. What has happened is that it is now the narcos who are controlling the president.

  You can point to other parts of this situation. There was an attempt on the life of Governor Reyes Baeza of Chihuahua. They killed one of the governor’s bodyguards.y Of course, this was not reported as it actually happened. Do you think that only the bodyguard was killed? So what really happened? The governor gave thanks for the work his faithful bodyguard did to defend him because he knew that it was only because of this honest man doing his job that he was saved.

  But there were serious errors, serious mistakes committed. From all that I have told you and from what I know from my experience, you have to realize that when people are sent to take out a particular objective, that is what they must do and there cannot be any errors. I can tell you that those who carried out this attack on the governor of Chihuahua and failed to do it properly, I know that these people are no longer alive. They have been killed because they failed to do their job and they cannot be left alive. They died for failing to do a good job.

  And what about that job that was done years ago that I told you about, the murder of the newspaper columnist, Dr. Oropeza? Why, after the passage of so many years, have they not been able to solve this case? People have written hundreds of articles about this case. People claim to know who did it.

  I know who did it.

  The order came from “El Cora.” El Cora assigned a team of five people to do the job. Of these people, in this moment, I know that one is in prison for other minor crimes, and he was directly involved in this murder. And there is another person also. There are two of the five who committed this crime who are alive. Why hasn’t anyone done anything? Why do the Mexican authorities try to blame scapegoats who are detained in prisons in the United States? Why bother with bringing them here to charge them with this crime when they know who really did it? When there are two people here in prison and many people know it. Why doesn’t anyone talk to them? Why doesn’t anyone ask them what really happened? Why does another one go free? It is not just that this journalist got involved with the narcos.z When you review the articles that he wrote, you will realize that he was one of the first journalists who spoke out about the corruption and the links between the Mexican government and the narcos. And that is why he was killed. He was a great man.

  It is a disgrace that the good men and the good journalists are the ones who fall. Here in the border, there have been a lot who have fallen. Every day there are more. It is not that there are not honest people. It is not that there are not honest journalists who write the truth and who have the courage to do it. There are, but they have to hide. They have to write anonymously.

  People will say: “Why are you afraid if you are a journalist? Why don’t you speak openly and use the power of what you write? Why don’t you write the truth? You are a journalist. You should show your face and stand by what you write.” But those who have shown their faces have ended up dead, and their families have ended up in the street. Their families have ended up with nothing. The government has nothing but shame. They know that these journalists have been killed. The government does nothing to help them, and their families are left with nothing.

  The crime against Dr. Oropeza dates back to the years when the buildup in the power of the narco-trafficking organizations was just beginning. It was when the narcos started to contract specialized teams to carry out executions. This was the beginning of a “boom.” It was a time when it did not matter what social class you came from or who you were. The fact was, even if you were a journalist or some other important person in the society, your position would not protect you. If you did anything to attack any narco-trafficker, they were going to retaliate against you, and it did not matter to them how far things went. This was at the time when the narcos were saying, “I can go anywhere and I can do anything.”

  And way back then, if the authorities were not able to solve such a simple crime like the murder of Oropeza, what can you expect now? This boom was something that was heard worldwide. This homicide case was dealt with all the way up to the United Nations, and yet it still could not be solved. Nothing was ever done to punish those responsible. If that is what happens with such an important case, what can a common ordinary citizen expect in these times of threats and the wave of violence that is happening today? The case of Dr. Oropeza was just a taste of what was to come. We see what is happening now.

  People say, “Okay, the violence is growing and growing. These crimes are never going to end.” But it is not happening by chance—it is being controlled. What happened back then was not an experiment. Rather, it was a warning. The narcos were sending out a warning to the government and to the people: that they were in control and that they could do anything. They were capable, and they had people who were very well trained, and it was the government itself that provided the people and the training to carry out any kind of job. And above all, they provided the resources to do the work, thanks to the money generated by the narco-traffickers.

  That is what the murder of Dr. Oropeza meant.

  Now about Vasconcelos. ... He was a person who was very well respected right up until the moment of his death. He was respected even inside the cartels. When he began an investigation, it became a priority even to the cartels. They moved aside and gave him the space to work and to investigate. He was an upright person, very straight. He did not get mixed up in problems. And Vasconcelos is talked about because at a given moment, inside of the current government of Calderón, if they were able to have confidence in anyone, it was in him. He was supportive, respected, very well organized in his thoughts and in his words. Men like him no longer exist inside the government.

  Unfortunately, what happened to him that day in the private airplane he was traveling in together with the secretary of the Interior [Gobernación], well, the government says that it was an accident caused by negligence on the part of the pilots. I have known a lot of pilots ... and despite the government’s investigations, I can practically assure you that this was not an accident.

  Vasconcelos carried out a lot of investigations. The majority of them were done in close cooperation with the United States. He was doing his job for the government of Mexico, but his actions indicat
ed that he was also an important link with United States law enforcement, and he was carrying out orders based on the information provided by the United States. For example, in one of the cases he investigated, some bodies were dug up from a house. The information came from DEA in the United States, and so something had to be done about it. If the information got into his hands, he would investigate, he would act. There was a sense of security that if Vasconcelos said he would do something, he would follow through on it. This was a certainty. He was not like many other high commanders of the police or other high-level law enforcement officials in Mexico—stuck between a rock and a hard place [entre la espada y la pared ].

  And up to now there has not been another person like him. We are talking about a person who took action. He could have been blocked perhaps, but once certain information was released, his investigations could no longer be covered up. Once the reports got into his hands, it was something real, and he could not be stopped. He followed through on all of the cases he investigated. He would not give up on a case even when he was ordered to. He always followed through. He was an honorable person, a person with a clear idea of where he was going and what he was doing. And he could be trusted. Now there are no public servants like him. If in some given moment the Mexican government had been willing and able to provide him with real security, listened to his advice, and adopted some of his investigative methods, it is possible that Mexico would not now be experiencing such high levels of violence.

  But what was the government going to do with a person who had this kind of knowledge? They could place him in a very high position in the government so that he would be able to direct all of the police forces under Calderón. For example, he could have been put into a position similar to that held many years earlier by Commander Ruvalcaba,aa who served as a link with United States law enforcement. He was a key person. I have no doubt that in the same manner, even after Vasconcelos was transferred from the attorney general to the department of Interior [Gobernación ], he continued acting as an important link with the U.S. He could have followed through with his investigations. But—and this is talked about a lot—what the government did instead was to degrade his position and lower his rank. And they put him directly into the line of fire. They took away the protection that he had.

  He was a humble man, dedicated to his work and to his family. I would like to have met him, but I never had the chance. I heard him talked about a lot, and everyone always spoke well of him. Once, when we were in Monterrey, he was going to be there carrying out an investigation. And we were asked to leave the plaza so that he would be able to do what he needed to do. It was never possible for the narcos to make an arrangement with him. That is, it was better for us, the cartel operatives at the time, to just withdraw from the plaza, let him do what he was going to do, and then leave. After that, we could return and carry on with our work. I am sure that the narco bosses at the time knew what kind of investigation he was working on, because there were various infiltrators. There were people from the PGR [Procuraduria General de la República, the federal attorney general] or from military intelligence inside the cartels, just as the cartels had people bought and paid for inside the government.

  But there was no way for the narcos to get to Vasconcelos. He was a respectable person. Perhaps he had his weaknesses, but as far as I know, he was never corrupted. He was a person of confidence. In fact, many of the narco bosses in Mexico wanted to work with him because they knew he was a man who kept his word. But this is something that Calderón did not understand how to use to his advantage.

  So, it was one of those things.... Perhaps Calderón made a mistake. Certainly, from my perspective, my personal opinion is that the action taken was a mistake. Vasconcelos could have done more. He could have shown the way, opened things up through his investigations. Based on the real facts obtained through his investigations, many more people could have been arrested and put in prison. And without so much violence and bloodshed. Much of the work that Vasconcelos was doing was based on information from the United States. But he did not do things halfway. He built good cases, and when he made an arrest, you could be sure that the subject would stay locked up. Today in Mexico, people are being arrested, but due to the lack of a functioning legal system, they are getting out in one or two years. The legal system can’t keep them locked up. So what are they going to do then? They get out and go looking for the people they had problems with to settle the score. That results in even more bloodshed.

  So, in terms of what happened with Dr. Oropeza, this signaled the beginning of the boom back in those years. The narcos wanted everyone to realize just what they were capable of. And now, with what happened to Vasconcelos, you realize that the narcos are still in control. “We do what we want. We go where we want.” And if anyone challenges their power or tries to be equal to them, that person will realize that the narcos can handle it and they are capable of winning.

  THE LIFE, 3

  I depend directly on God . . . God is with me. While I was waiting outside just now, I read this:

  Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the

  Lord is kept safe. (Temer a los hombres resulta una trampa,

  pero el que confía en el Señor sale bien librado.)

  PROVERBS 29:25

  So I do not need to fear men, I need to trust in God. But I realize and I am eternally grateful for this confidence—that I am immensely privileged to be able to trust in God.

  These men, Oropeza and Vasconcelos, in their time, each served their own god. For instance, Oropeza’s god was doing his job as a journalist. And what did it get him? Death. For Vasconcelos, I think his god was to serve the government, to be subject to the government, and to carry out the orders he was given. And what did that get him? Death.

  I serve the Lord, and I will follow Him on the same road.

  But these men, despite the power of their words and their actions, they were brought down. Who is it that cannot be brought down?

  It is a vision. No one is exempt. We are all just passing through this world. The only sure thing is that if we are born, we will also die. But there are very few lucky enough to die in their beds, asleep, without feeling a thing—to die happy. And to have lived a life that was good for their children, their grandchildren, and everyone else. God is good, and if we are lucky, we are allowed to have children and then grandchildren and we are able to enjoy them and be with them and we can say, “Thank you, God.”

  And be satisfied with our lives.

  In the environment that I moved in, I never thought that I would live to see my children and grandchildren. Never never never. At any moment I could die in a hail of bullets. You carry out your job in fractions of a second, and you must be coldblooded to do it. In the moment you must act without thinking. You must be full of malice and wickedness to do this work. And you must know what you are doing. But you never ever have time to think about having children and grandchildren.

  You never have time to think about it. The future is always uncertain. Now, yes, thanks to God, I can make plans. In my past life, I never thought, “What shall we do for Christmas?” You have everything, but only in the moment. And you must enjoy it in the moment. Whatever you have, goes, goes, goes. You never expect to have a future.

  Well, maybe only if you are a very high-ranking person. But even then, you have to know how to administer your resources and how to protect your loved ones.

  I used to think ... I remember once I told you: You never want to be either the head or the tail. Both get cut off. So you want to be the belly in order to be safe. But now I feel differently. Now I want to be the head, the point of the lance. Because we are the people of God. We are here because God is taking care of us. Our past is past. And people need to see us like we are now. I no longer want to be in the middle where things are easy and safe . . . that is the past. Now I want to be the head, the point of the lance. Oropeza and Vasconcelos also were both at the head, they were points of the lance. Th
ey were pioneers. One in journalism and the other in the police. And look at what happened to them.

  There are others who have passed through these stages of the vicious circle and who want to do something. As I have drawn these charts for you, of ninety people, ninety elements who graduate from any class in an academy, fifty of them are involved with the narco-trafficking organizations. Whether they are in the ministerial police, the preventive police, the judicial police, the federal police, or elements of the army. I have reviewed for you how this works, how from the very beginning the narcos send remittances to these elements, investing in these people from the very beginning. The narcos realize that by paying these people early on, they are forming them, maintaining them, just like parents take care of their children. They will end up being much more faithful to the narcos than to the government or to the army because since they were children they have been maintained and taken care of by the narcos.

  It is a family. We can say, like in any family, not everyone is involved. Maybe one person is, but not the whole family. But from that one person, the disintegration of the entire family begins. The disintegration of the family begins with divorce and causes many problems. The children are taken care of not by a couple but by the mother or the father alone.

  The government has no desire to resolve this problem, this situation. The government does not try to stop the situation. The government acts in the way that the narcos tell them to act. The government conducts training, and the narcos defend themselves using the same government corporations.