Hundreds march for Sinaloa cartel boss in Mexico
wtf????
CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) ? Not everyone is happy over the capture of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Hundreds of people marched on the streets of this western Mexico city on Wednesday demanding that Mexican authorities free the boss of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. Many said he provides needed jobs in poor mountain areas.
Norteno musicians played trumpets while high school students in uniforms held up signs reading "We want Chapo free" and "We Love Chapo" as they paraded in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, which is the cartel's bastion.
Demonstrators also said they opposed any attempt to extradite Guzman to the U.S., where he faces several drug-trafficking charges in different states.
Police officers tried to scatter the protest, and a few of the demonstrators began throwing water bottles at them as the march broke up. Officers responded with tear gas and took some protesters into custody.
"We support Chapo Guzman because he is the one who gives us jobs and helps out in the mountains," said Pedro Ramirez, who said he traveled in a group of 300 from Badiraguato, a town in the Sierra Madre where Guzman was born poor 56 years ago.
It was a rare display even in a country where drug lords inspire folk songs and books and are looked up to by young men in rural areas. In December 2010, about 100 people marched through the state capital of Michoacan to show support for the chief of La Familia cartel, who had just been killed during two days of battles with federal police.
Wednesday's relatively large turnout may have to do with the uncertainty felt by Sinaloans over the future of the multibillion-dollar illegal drug business, which provides a boost for their agricultural state. Experts say Guzman's arrest won't slow the Sinaloa cartel, but many people are anxious the area's economy may be disrupted.
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