A merchant from the Central Market of Acapulco walks among the rubble of merchandise and premises that were consumed by the fire.Carlos Alberto Carbajal (CUARTOSCURO)
Two days before Rafa Nadal thanked Acapulco for the warm Mexican welcome, a few kilometers from there, chaos had broken out.
On Friday night, three men set fire to the central market of the coastal city with gasoline drums, destroying at least 50 stores and all the merchandise.
On Sunday night, a prison riot left more than 17 injured.
And on Sunday, while the Mexican tennis Open was inaugurated in the jewel of Pacific tourism and the Spanish athlete presented himself with the title of the most victorious male tennis player in history —with 21 Grand Slams—, the authorities boasted of the arrest of the leader of the narco who controlled the plaza of Acapulco, José Miguel B., alias
El Ardilla
.
Acapulco lives these days with
glamor
of tennis fans —politicians, businessmen and Mexican celebrities— and with the darkest reality that has not left the port for decades.
The authorities are trying to contain the violence that has not ceased in this corner of the state of Guerrero, a key point of drug trafficking since the 1990s, and which these days is suffocating between extortion of businesses and Army operations.
Last week, the military intensified the hunt for extortionists in the central market.
On Wednesday, the merchants protested on the main street of the city because of the Army's incursion into their premises and how they had been put in trouble: "Many times they subject our workers and many times they want them to say things that we do not know," he said. a small businessman to the Milenio newspaper.
And on Friday night,
The municipal authorities have accounted for damages that reach more than 50 premises with all the merchandise.
The images of the flames destroying the central market of the coastal city were reminiscent of those of a few months ago, in the famous Baby'O nightclub, a symbol of the quintessential Acapulcan party for more than 30 years.
In that case, which occurred last September, the videos of the security cameras captured the moment in which a group of men, also armed with gasoline drums, set fire to the premises and with it a part of the Acapulco night went out.
A city that has not been able to recover from the terror of drug traffickers, from the heads thrown on the Costera Miguel Alemán, from the shootings in the town.
Firefighters controlled the fire in the Central Market of Acapulco.
Carlos Alberto Carbajal (DARKFOURTH)
El Ardilla, of whom the authorities have only mentioned his first name in the arrest record as a way of preserving his identity —although in the police photo only a black line covers his eyes—, is the alleged person responsible for all the violence that has kept the city in check in recent months.
The main problem of Acapulco these days, according to what its inhabitants have denounced, is the so-called
right of flat,
a tax that the narco collects in exchange for allowing the small businessman to continue operating and often under threat of death.
The state authorities, together with those of the State of Mexico - an entity that embraces the capital - announced the arrest of the leader of the mafia that controls Acapulco, who was hiding in Toluca, five hours by car from the port, this Sunday.
After his arrest, it was reported that the leader of the Acapulco Independent Cartel was considered a "priority target" and is held responsible for the violence that has plagued the town in recent months.
Shortly before the preparations for the most important sporting event in the city began, the governor of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado Pineda (from Morena) assured that "Guerrero is protected."
"We are working to protect national and foreign visitors so they can enjoy the show," she said, affirming that the entity is ready "to receive those who come to enjoy the Open, which gives Acapulco a lot of projection."
But on Sunday, another violent event shook the entity again.
A riot in the city's state prison, the Social Reintegration Center (Cereso) of Acapulco, organized by the inmates, caused at least 17 injured officials.
And once again, the spotlights shined on the dark, violent port, which has not managed to silence itself with the pomposity of the sporting event.
The objective of the rioters, according to state authorities, was to prevent the transfer of some 60 prisoners to federal prisons.
And in the early hours of Monday, some 50 inmates took control of the prison and came to occupy the Cereso Government building.
During this incident, 13 police officers and four from the National Guard were injured, no other victims have been reported at the moment.
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