Protesters took to the streets and sacked a government office in Culiacán, capital of the troubled northwestern state of Sinaloa, after two young boys were killed in an apparent carjacking.
Thousands of local residents including mothers and children in school uniforms demanded an end to cartel violence on Thursday as they marched toward state government headquarters. Many protesters called for the resignation of Gov. Rubén Rocha, shouting “Out with Rocha!” as they approached the government buildings.
Pongo acá un video a los inicios de la marcha “Fuera Rocha” pic.twitter.com/DOYMUCDvCj
— Marcos Vizcarra (@marcosvizcarra) January 24, 2025
Homicides, disappearances and carjackings have surged in Sinaloa after a conflict broke out between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel following the arrests last year of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera. The capital city of Culiacán has been particularly hard-hit.
Thursday’s protest was in response to the murder of brothers Gael and Alexander Sarmiento, ages 12 and 9, respectively, and their father when armed men tried to steal their vehicle on Sunday. Two other minors were injured, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Hundreds of demonstrators set out from the school the two boys attended. A group of children carried banners with slogans such as “I want to live, not survive,” according to the news agency Agence France-Presse.
A group of protesters burst into the offices of the Sinaloa state government, breaking a glass door and causing damage before reaching the third floor where the governor’s office is located.
Gente de #Culiacán, cooperen con este hilo con fotos y videos de la protesta de hoy para que los ojos de #México vean qué pasa realmente.
¡Vamos!
Inicio con estas cortesía de mi broder @alfrekjv pic.twitter.com/1Xcm3m6g8w— Aarón Ibarra (@aarontuit) January 23, 2025
Following the march, a spokesperson for Gov. Rocha said a federal task force will take over the investigation of the triple homicide.
The spokesperson said Rocha was willing to meet with the protesters before they burst into the building, but they declined his offer.
“We understand the indignation of the public,” said Feliciano Castro, telling reporters that the governor remains open to dialogue.
Rocha has come under fire for mishandling the crisis and understating the violence. In October, the governor shrugged off the bloodshed that began a month earlier saying that violence occurs in cities across Mexico, while urging the public to not succumb to fear. Last week, he said people can live perfectly well in Sinaloa.
There have also been reports that Rocha was involved in the plot to have “El Mayo” Zambada arrested. Earlier reports hinted that the ruling Morena party entered into an “electoral narco-pact” with the Sinaloa Cartel ahead of Rocha’s election in 2021.
Anger over the murder of the children grew online throughout the week, prompting a “more effusive, more emotional, very very sad and much harder” protest, Estefanía López told the AP.
“It took on a life of its own, I think a lot of people woke up,” López, a leader of Culiacan Valiente, a collective that has organized previous peace marches, said. “The disgust … has been such that today the people came out.”
Earlier Thursday, an explosion in the parking lot of a supermarket in Culiacán damaged a memorial dedicated to Edgar Guzmán López, a son of “El Chapo” who was killed in 2008.
A bullet-ridden car was left nearby, the AFP reported.
With reports from Animal Político, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
