A video allegedly attributed to the powerful Mexican gang Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) circulated on social media on Friday urging rival groups to keep their fights out of the country’s innocents.
Two Jesuit priests and a tour guide were shot dead in late June in Chihuahua, a state bordering the United States, in a murder that shocked Mexicans and drew condemnation from Pope Francis.
More than 30,000 people were killed in Mexico last year and much of the violence is linked to fighting between rival drug trafficking organizations.
“By this means I communicate with all the cartels to invite them to make the war between us and not mess with who we should not mess with,” said a man in the video accompanied by other people. All had their faces covered, were heavily armed and dressed in camouflage clothing.
“We are people with people,” added the man.
On behalf of the enigmatic leader of the CJNG, Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, he urged rival cartels across the country not to attack Catholic doctors, teachers and especially priests.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the video.
A source familiar with cartel ideology said the video appeared to be real, but could not say if it was Oseguera’s voice. A press officer for the federal prosecutor’s office said authorities were analyzing the images.
Oseguera, a former police officer, has been the architect of the CJNG and has led it to be a criminal empire that extends across the five continents. He is a rival of the Sinaloa Cartel, of the capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, now in a prison in the United States.
US authorities set a $10 million reward for Oseguera’s capture in 2018.
