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(CNN) - Enedelia Estrada Tovar did not realize at the beginning that she had been shot.
When the convoy of armed men arrived in her town in northeastern Mexico, she and her neighbors ran to get safe. Already with a shower of bullets on top, the first thing the 56-year-old woman thought, who expresses herself in a soft voice, was helping others. “Suddenly the convoy is coming and I was there helping the other families to get in and get comfortable [to get safe],” Estrada told CNN.
He says he did not realize that he was bleeding heavily because he was trying to move his deaf and delicate health father because of his advanced age to also save him.
“Well, I didn't feel anything; absolutely nothing. I told my dad 'come on, let's go'. And we went to a little room that was where we were all. And until the little time I saw and said 'they already gave me because, look, how I bring blood,' ”Estrada said.
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Estrada lives in Villa Unión, a town located about 70 kilometers south of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city that borders the Eagle Pass, Texas. The town of about 3,000 inhabitants in the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila appeared in headlines around the world last month after being the scene for hours of armed clashes between a criminal group and security forces, acts of violence that left 25 dead and marked buildings with countless bullet impacts.
In total, 19 members of the criminal group died, as well as four policemen and two civilians, according to the state attorney general of Coahuila Gerardo Márquez Guevara. After the clashes, the police confiscated 17 vehicles. Four vans were equipped with sniper rifles.
The attack had the purpose of terrorizing the population, according to Coahuila Governor Miguel Ángel Riquelme, citing testimony from two suspects. "The two detainees said they were sent by the Northeast Cartel to cause panic in Coahuila," said Riquelme.
In a way, they accomplished their mission. Fear spreads in this town that was once characterized by its peaceful life. Another resident of Villa Unión, who preferred not to be identified for fear of reprisals, told CNN that he fortunately decided not to open the door. "I would have 'bent'," said the older woman. Part of the floor of his house was marked with bullet impacts. The shots were so thunderous, he said, that at first he thought they were explosions at a nearby gas station.
Mexican Army and Navy troops now patrol the streets of Villa Unión. They were sent by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to strengthen security in the state. Municipal workers have dedicated themselves to repair the extensively damaged building of the municipal presidency. They also sweep debris and collect broken objects while the military stands guard outside. And although the gaps from the impacts of the bullets have already been filled, the traces of the attack remain evident.
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The attack occurred on November 30, a day before López Obrador celebrated his first year in the presidency. The former mayor of Mexico City won the most important popular election position in the country precisely because he promised to improve security in Mexico, although the death toll due to the violence of organized crime has continued to rise.
In the first nine months of 2019, 22,059 murders were recorded, compared to 21,581 during the same period last year. Attacks of extreme violence such as the one in Villa Unión and the horrific massacre at the beginning of last month of three Mormon women and six of their children in northwestern Mexico have drawn worldwide attention and even provoked offers of help from the United States.
López Obrador has promised a thorough investigation into the attack in Villa Unión, while arguing that security has improved in some regions of Mexico. “You remember how the situation was so difficult in [the region of] La Laguna [in the states of Durango and Coahuila]. Well ... there the incidence dropped, there was applied since the last six years, a plan that has given good results. And in this case, we are going to say that it is exceptional, that it is not something that is suffered daily in Coahuila, ”López Obrador said on December 2, two days after the attack, in one of his morning press conferences from the National Palace.
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During his campaign, López Obrador promised to launch an innovative security strategy that would consist of “hug, not bullets”. Hugs meant a series of social welfare programs to reduce poverty and inequality and eliminate incentives for low-income youth to get involved with criminal organizations.
Despite the creepy news that emerged recently, he insisted on the same strategy on December 1 in the speech to mark his first year in the presidency. “We have not declared war on anyone; only to corruption and impunity, ”said López Obrador.
“It is clear that the president does not see the need, at least publicly, to declare that he will change his strategy to reduce violence in the country. It is still a 'hugs, not bullets' strategy, although he did not specify it that way, ”the former White House and Pentagon Ana María Salazar told CNN.
“Although the president insisted in his speech that violence has been reduced, the truth is that the data indicate otherwise. It seems that these criminal organizations are exercising greater territorial control in different parts of the country and that type of violence and power requires a totally different strategy, ”said Salazar.
Back at Villa Unión, Estrada is still bedridden recovering. When we visited she could not walk. And surely it will be difficult to forget how difficult it was to stop the bleeding after realizing that he had been shot in the foot.
The wounds for Estrada and her neighbors are not only physical. Despite the president's promises, residents in the once peaceful population say the attack has changed their perception of security, perhaps forever.
- Maegan Vázquez contributed to this report.
Violence in Mexico
