DRUGS-MEXICO:
'Saint Death' Sought for Blessing in Endless War

Diego Cevallos


MEXICO CITY,  (IPS) - The image of Santa Muerte (Saint Death), a skeleton swirled inside a black cape and wielding a scythe, is surely receiving many prayers these days from her followers in Mexico: drug traffickers, who are currently steeped in bloody inter-mafia conflicts.

In January, executions related to disputes between drug-dealing bands reached an average of three per day -- a new record. The average for 2003 was three such killings every two days.

Mexico is undergoing a "narco-crisis", say officials. By Jan. 27, 74 people had been murdered in different parts of Mexico as the drug mafias vied for power over territory for channelling cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine into the United States.

"Victorious Jesus Christ, who on the cross was defeated, now defeat my enemy who is vanquished with me, in the name of our Lord," says one of the prayers recited by Mexican drug-traffickers and other criminals before altars to Santa Muerte before they take on their rivals.

Officials said they found tattoos, rings and pendants bearing the image of Saint Death on the bodies of many of the latest victims, mostly men between the ages of 20 and 45.

This figure, whose origins are said to be a mix of Roman Catholicism, 'santería' and voodoo, is venerated in Mexico by those who live on the edge of the law and have to deal with "the betrayal of their allies or the revenge of their enemies," said poet Homero Aridjis.

"Santa Muerte not only protects (the criminals) from betrayal and ambush, but also can be an agent in their favour against enemies, causing them harm, or death." She is a "virgin saint in the religion of crime," the poet explained.

Under pressure arising from the arrests of some of their bosses and the confiscation of many of their drug shipments, the narco-traffickers became caught up in intense internal battles in January.

Mexico's Attorney General, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, has yet again repeated that the government will not let up in the fight against these criminal groups, and stressed that the recent executions are part of an inter-mafia war.

The Vicente Fox administration promises that actions against the drug-traffickers will go as far as they have to. Meanwhile, lawmakers and authorities from some Mexican states are calling for the anti-drug fight to include efforts against the cultural expressions linked to the illegal narcotics trade.

In the northern states, along the U.S. border, the fight against what has been dubbed 'narcocultura' in local parlance has led some city officials to prohibit radio stations from broadcasting songs with lyrics about the drug mafias.

They have also exhorted the media in general to not publish or disseminate any sort of message linked to the styles and customs of drug traffickers.

"The war against drugs being waged by the government will never end as long as there is demand in the United States, and the same goes for the cultural and religious expressions of the drug traffickers, who are here to stay," commented cultural researcher Alfredo Nápoles in an IPS interview.

Since Fox took office in late 2000, seizures of drug shipments and arrests of people linked to the drug trade reached their highest levels in recent Mexican history.

More than 22,500 had been apprehended by the end of 2003, of whom just 15 were believed to be drug mafia bosses. And last year alone, some 13 tonnes of cocaine and 600 tonnes of marijuana were confiscated.

Despite these victories, there is no evidence at all that the flow of illegal drugs to the United States has diminished, says Jorge Fernández, an expert on the drug trade.

Because of its proximity and the shared 3,200-km border, Mexico is the gateway for tonnes of drugs entering the U.S. market, the world's leading consumer of illegal narcotics.

Several studies indicate that there are affiliates and representatives in Mexico of all the major drug cartels in the world, because the country is used as base for operations in the United States.

Fernández, like many other observers, believes that as long as there is demand, there will be a supply -- and drug trafficking will continue.

In Mexico, as in most Latin American countries, the government does not even want to consider alternative approaches for fighting the drug trade, like the legalisation of certain drugs, like marijuana.

Over the past several years, in the shadow of drug trafficking, devotion to the "Bandido Generoso Malverde" emerged. Jesús Malverde, the "generous bandit" and patron saint of Mexico's drug traffickers, is believed to have been an outlaw hung for his crimes in the early 1900s.

Altars to Malverde, a sort of Robin Hood figure who, according to legend, robbed the rich to give to the poor, can be found across rural northern Mexico. It is common to see images of him alongside those of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of all Mexicans.

Santa Muerte is part of the same phenomenon. Altars dedicated to this figure have been found in the homes of known drug traffickers, alongside lit candles and photos of various people, including scantily clad women.

"Santa Muerte must be very busy right now, listening to prayers in this war amongst the drug traffickers," says cultural expert Nápoles.

"And it will continue on, because the drug barons will not stop unless there is some sort of miracle and the U.S. consumers stop giving them work."