Frontera NorteSur Feburary /2000

Hundreds of indigenous Tarahumara people have been displaced, Tarahumara teenagers are becoming addicted to drugs, and two priests have disappeared–all a result of the fearsome presence of drug traffickers in the western mountainous region of the state of Chihuahua.

The exploitation of the Tarahumara people by drugtraffickers has become a concern to federal authorities who are working with governmental and Tarahumara leaders at all levels to find a solution.

"Drugtrafficking has completely taken over the lives of the Tarahumara," said Gabriel Parga from the Parish of Namiquipa.

The Tamahumara are a gentle, farming people who live in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. Namiquipa is a city about 100 miles northwest of Cd. Chihuahua. From Namiquipa and south to where Chihuahua has borders with the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, and Durango, the Tarahumaras have traditionally farmed and lived in small villages.

The region is known as the "Golden Triangle" to drugtraffickers, for it is prime farmland for growing marijuana and poppies for heroin. Beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, drugtraffickers began intimidating the Tarahumara into planting and harvesting illicit drug crops. Hundreds of Tarahumara families have since abandoned their homes, fleeing drug-related violence.

According to a special report in the Mexican national weekly magazine, Proceso, the following towns have lost more than 50 percent of their populations: San Jose del Pinal, El Metate, Baragomachi, Tehuerichi, Ochigomachi, San Ignacio, El Papante en Batpolias, Cerocahui, Ocoviachi, Magaurichi, and Guzapares. Authorities said they do not have studies that indicate where they have migrated to, but one functionary said it was not to the United States.

In addition, at least two Catholic priests and members of their parish offices have recently been kidnapped and disappeared. Both priests had named known drugtraffickers in their homilies, denouncing them and accusing them of crimes against the Tarahumara people. On November 31, Francisco Santacruz Ramos, a Catholic priest, and two members of his pastoral staff were kidnapped and disappeared near the town of Carichi. Ten days later, another priest, Julio Cesar Cota and members of his pastoral staff were disappeared shortly after Cesar Cota had denounced local military authorities. Officials from the newly created 42nd Military Zone said they have apprehended two soldiers who "might be responsible for this aggression."

Meanwhile, the Tarahumara–called "the poor and forgotten" by El Diario de Juarez–must contend with a vicious downward cycle of social problems caused by the takeover of their villages by drugtraffickers. Of great concern to both governmental and Tarahumara leaders is the "mentality of the youth." According to El Diario, young Tarahumara teenagers have not only become users of marijuana, heroin, and cocaine, but now "they want to carry AK-47's and make lots of money."

Cosydhac, a non-governmental organization (NGO), has been fighting for the Tarahumara for over two decades. According to spokesperson Maria Teresa Guerrero, the group has been denouncing "the violence, the human rights violations, and drug addiction problem since the 1970s and 1980s." Guerrero also said, "Today, many teenagers want to have a new car, an AK-47, a wallet full of dollars, and to drink beer while listening to songs glorifying the drugtraffickers (narcorridos). The situation is very serious and irreversible. Drug addiction is speeding up the deterioration of these villages and there are levels of violence within the community that are beyond the control of the indigenous governors."

The authorities seem ready to listen now. Chihuahua State Attorney General Arturo González Rascón has called a meeting of federal, state, municipal authorities, Cosydhac, and tribal governors of the Tarahumara. A spokesperson for the state attorney general's office said that any solution to the problem must involve the coordination of all levels of government.

The office of Mexico's highest drug policy official, Mariano Herran Salvatti, has proposed legislation that would "benefit" the Tarahumara by "imposing minimal sanctions on the villagers, because of their ignorance and their delicate economic situation."

Jose Luis Dibildox, bishop of the Diocese of the Tarahumara, puts it more bluntly: "The Tarahumara have no other work alternatives." A priest from the village of San Rafael agreed, adding that "If you ask the people why they don't stop cultivating drugs, they respond: ‘What will stop the hunger of my family?' And honestly if they don't work [for the drugtraffickers], there is no money."

Luis Felipe Gallegos, a priest from Batopilas, said: "Violent groups act with impunity. They are causing the people to flee."

Salvatti said he would like "to diminish the influence of the drugtrafficking in the geographic area where the Tarahumara live . . . and create conditions by which they could have a dignified life." He suggested that the government could reimburse the Tarahumara for planting "alternative crops."

In the mean time, known drugtraffickers in the region have escaped justice, time and again. In May 1998, federal officials arrested a man and his wife suspected of leading a drugtrafficking organization in the area. The suspects showed up for their hearing, denied any wrongdoing, then fled to the mountains. Authorities have also been seeking the arrest of five ringleaders charged with six homicides in 1989.

A spokesperson from the federal attorney general's office (PGR) said it is very difficult to apprehend known drugtraffickers "because they migrate to avoid judicial action."

The intimidation of the people and the priests continues. One Catholic priest in Namiquipa who named names of known drugtraffickers in a recent homily told Proceso he had been visited by the very same people shortly after the service and "they offered money in exchange for my silence."

Bishop Dibildox has said he does not believe in a military solution for the problem of "narcofarming," but instead he says the people "need work they can do with their hands."

In a related story, on January 18, officials from the special state agency set up to serve the Tarahumara (CET) announced plans to integrate Tarahumara men into construction work and carpentry and the women into maquiladora work for a "dignified salary." The state has dubbed the effort "Project Raramuri," referring to the one of tribes of Tarahumara.

Tourists and Juarenses who visit downtown Juarez have seen for many years–since the 70s and 80s--large numbers of Tarahumara people, mostly women and children, living on the streets and begging for money. This migration to Ciudad Juárez coincides with the time that drugtrafficking violence and human rights violations began in the Tarahumara mountain villages, according to Cosydhac spokesperson Guerrero.

Lorenzo Natera Navejas, state coordinator for the Tarahumara, said, "We don't want to have them walking the streets prostituting themselves and begging for handouts, enduring so many risks and exposing their children to diseases and inclement weather."

The state estimates that there are 600 Tarahumara people living in Ciudad Juarez and 6,000 in the state, according to a story in El Diario.

Sources: Proceso, El Diario de Juarez, El Norte de la Ciudad Juarez