VIDEO: Badiraguato, the city of "El Chapo" Guzmán, was waiting for his return

If Joaquín "El Chapo", Guzmán returned to his hometown, Badiraguato, in the state of Sinaloa, north of Mexico, I would have a party.

But in Badiraguato, the story is different.

He is revered with songs, say "narcocorridos", and also with photographs and phrases that quote the famous 61 year old capo.

If I came back, it would be a relief, say the villagers, because when I was there, there was neither poverty nor violence. It was, they say, a territory with an unrecognized autonomous government and a generous leader.

"Since Mr. Chapo is no longer there, there is more poverty and people have to go down (from the mountains) because they are weaker … the most difficult thing"says Jorge Valenzuela, a resident of Potrero de Bejarano, a community bordering the state of Chihuahua.

"He has distributed money to people, had him planted, buy, and there is no one to do it," adds Valenzuela from this Golden Triangle town. , located in the mountains of northwestern Mexico.

Nine out of 10 people living in Badiraguato they live in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty, according to data from the Mexican government. It is the municipality that has the most social and economic problems in Sinaloa.

It is also the municipality with the smallest number of roads built, but among those with more rural roads that lead to the mountain, where the main activities are mining -33% of the territory is conceded to mining companies- and marijuana production.

Public data from the Department of National Defense (SEDENA) reveals that the largest volume of marijuana eradication is concentrated in Sinaloa in 2018, with the destruction of 43 976 hectares, 31% of the total eliminated in the country.

Drug production was the industry that Guzmán led with the Sinaloa cartel until two years ago, when he was arrested in the city of The mochis, north of the state.

"Here all the people have where to plant, but as Mr. Chapo is not there, people do not plant any more, because they sold it to him"Lamented Valenzuela.

The capture of Guzmán provoked an internal war with which the cartel redefined the direction, explains Cristóbal Castañeda, Secretary of State for Public Security.

The sowing territory was fought by different groups, one led by Aureliano Guzmán, brother of "Chapo", the other by Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, his children, and another by a man named Héctor Román.

The disputes caused the displacement of 295 families Potrerillos, Carricitos, Saucitos, San Javier, San Javier de Arriba, Cieneguita de los Lopez and Sierrita de Potrerillos villages.

"What ended up affecting us was the extradition (of Guzmán), caused by the splitting of criminal groups", was it generated, explained Castañeda to the agency AFP.

In Badiraguato, locals complain about taking capo. (Credit: CRUZ SERRANO / AFP)

More than two years later, the rearrangement was consolidated, leaving the former president at the door, and without any sign of further violence, Castañeda said. "The downward trend of the various crime indexes continues"he said.

But the inhabitants of Badiraguato are not at ease. For them, the fall of Chapo has led to an imperceptible poverty in economic censuses, but evident in the decline of their businesses that provided the inhabitants of the sierra.

"Before people come in and out, in the trucks, the double-roll products for the mountain, to sell them there, like a crate, but now it looks quiet … They say the people do not have money, just live, "she says Jorge Laija, owner of a roadside restaurant.

In the Sierra de Badiraguato, the drug continues to be produced. There are still gunmen and a parallel authority that defies even the government forces.

Circulate without shame, shoulder rifles, high-frequency radios, armor and clothing, bearing the number 701, which recalls the position in which Forbes magazine placed Guzmán on its list of the richest men in the world in 2009.

In Badiraguato, there is no manor or visible luxury. Poverty prevails. With Guzmán, however, its inhabitants have never felt unprotected, despite the shortcomings. The "Chapo" was still there, they say.