The legend of Alejo Garza, a 77-year old farmer who died fighting off the Zetas drug gang while the gang took over his ranch near Ciudad Victoria, Nuevo León, Mexico, grows.
Like his counterparts, Garza has a 'corrido,' or ballad, in his honor, a part of which InSight Crime translates below. There is also a twitter feed (#alejo) and a Facebook page. Not everyone is a fan. Some on Twitter have said that vigilantes should not be encouraged. To be sure, there is a fear that paramilitary groups may be on the rise in Mexico in response to the government's inability to slow the violence. In this context, the ballad of Alejo Garza may be a troubling sign of things to come.
The Ballad of 'Don' Alejo Garza:
Energetic and courageous man,
Does not care about his (own) pain,
A Northern man to the end,
As such he defended his honor ...
He saved his men first,
For the thugs he was prepared,
They came to intimidate him,
He answered them with bullets...
From his noble trench
He took down four,
It was his life and his ranch, it was a
Question of honor
That's why he was shot,
That's why he never gave up...
Don Alejo is in heaven,
Alone on his safe ranch,
And the gauchos are surprised
That he did not need them...
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