Soldiers accused of killing five youths in Nuevo Laredo march to Zócalo

Eduardo Murillo

Newspaper La Jornada
Monday March 13, 2023, p. 8

About a thousand people, who claimed to be ex-military, accompanied by their families and supporters, marched from the Angel of Independence to the Zócalo in Mexico City in solidarity with the four soldiers imprisoned for their alleged participation in the murder of five civilians in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in a demonstration that was called on social networks without any formal group identifying itself as its organizer.

Dressed in some olive green garment or imitations of official uniforms, the protesters march chanting slogans such as: united soldiers will never be defeated, justice, justice, justice, soldier, friend, the people are with you and the troop is not touched.

Before leaving El Ángel, a man who identified himself as Rosalío López and said he was a former second lieutenant, stated that the armed forces need more support to fight crime, maintained that the case of Nuevo Laredo is an example of the injustices they experience and He criticized the role of human rights defense organizations.

We were trained for war, not for public security or social work. Give them their comb, give them scissors to cut hair, don’t give them weaponshe claimed.

Among the contingent, which included a minor trumpeter, no one was observed in uniform or official insignia.

Once in the Zócalo, Rosalío López spoke again to ask that the military be protected: We cannot allow the rights of those who protect those rights, which is the Mexican Army, to be violated. There are contingents here from the Navy, the Army, the National Guard, the Air Force, and they are active, they are retired, they are deserters, but they are good people. As the President says, they are the people of Mexico, and we have come to demonstrate to you here in front of you, as when we honor you, when we review our President on September 16, that you not trample on those rights, that you not violate those constitutional guaranteesheld.

Also in 13 states

Groups of between 12 and 100 people, who said they were relatives of active or retired military, demonstrated yesterday in at least 13 states, in favor of the elements of the Army accused of the death of the five young people.

The contingents that protested in Tamaulipas, Sonora, Aguascalientes, Nayarit, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos, Hidalgo, Puebla, Chiapas, Yucatán and Quintana Roo demanded that the individual guarantees of the military officers prosecuted and imprisoned in the country be asserted.

Juvenal, who claimed to be a retired soldier from Chiapas and stood up with about 40 other people in front of the Seventh Military Region, in the capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez, said: It is not possible that there are organizations that are dedicated to protecting organized crime and forget about us and treat us like criminals; today we demand that respect because our Constitution so establishes.

under the motto the military also have human rightsNearly fifty relatives of soldiers from the 18th Military Zone, based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, held a march.

At the Hidalgo Human Rights Commission, they posted banners with legends such as Friendly army, the united people fight with you.

They regretted that there are human rights organizations that are more dedicated to protecting alleged criminals than to the military elements in charge of combating them. In the municipality of Zimapán, a group of citizens demonstrated with the same objective.

In Chetumal, Quintana Roo, some 50 retired soldiers and their families demonstrated in front of the facilities of the 34 Military Zone; In addition to requesting the release of the uniformed officers detained in the Nuevo Laredo case, they demanded better treatment for members of the armed forces.

In Ciudad Victoria and Tampico, Tamaulipas, 12 and 55 people, respectively, demonstrated.

With information from correspondents