Survivors Recount 22 Days of Kidnapping and Torture in Guerrero

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat 

A week after six of the seven people kidnapped in Ajuchitlán del Progreso, Guerrero, were found alive, they continue to suffer the aftereffects of the nightmare they endured for 22 days. One of the victims recounted his experience to *Milenio*, beginning with his abduction on September 24, while he and others were heading to work in the fields near the rural community of El Balcón. 

“Look, the day they grabbed us—they caught us at a place called ‘La Mesa de las Yeguas’—there were about 80 gunmen. They took us, loaded us into a pickup truck, and moved us toward a town called Los Orcones. There were another 200 gunmen there.” 

The victim stated that the group was ultimately taken to the municipality of Arcelia, with the criminals traveling exclusively along back trails. Although the exact location was not disclosed, the captives were locked away and told the reason for their abduction: “I’m going to kill everyone from the El Balcón *ejido* [communal landholding] because I want your land. You have a forest—it’s clear you take good care of it; it’s dense with pine trees. I’m going to become a millionaire by taking your timber, and I’ll kill anyone who stands in my way.” 

During those harrowing days, they were tortured and given only one tortilla a day to eat. It was through this detail that they discovered dozens of other people being held captive alongside them. 

“When we arrived in Arcelia, there were elderly women, young girls of 16 or 17, men, elderly men, and even children—some as young as 12. We figured out how many of us there were by counting the tortillas; there were 136 of us in total.” 

This account concerns Domingo Atanasio Quirino, 50—the only one of the seven who wasn’t released. The victim states that the torture he endured left him in a very poor condition, and that at one point he was taken away, and they were told he had died. Days later, the story changed; they heard he had been taken to a hospital. The man began to lose consciousness. They could hear him being dragged out, as he was unable to walk. 

About an hour later, someone came to inform them: “The companion who was with you has passed away.” Later, another member of their group fell ill and ended up in a hospital in Arselia—taken there by their captors. While there, the gunman accompanying the man mentioned that Domingo—the companion who had been taken away—was in that same hospital, recovering from numerous injuries and remaining in poor health. 

However, no one ever saw Domingo again. Their captors also claimed that Jordi Alberto Atanasio Vidal—the 12-year-old boy who had been the first to be released, in early October—had died; this was clearly intended to further terrorize them. Regarding the boy who had been released, they told us he had been killed, while other accounts suggested he was already back with his family. 

We were left in doubt as to whether he was still alive, sometimes fearing, “No, he must be dead, and they’re just going to kill us off one by one.” After 22 days, they were finally released. They believe that the widespread publicity surrounding their kidnapping made their captors nervous, leading them to say, “Well, we’re going to set you free. We’ll even give you a pickup truck so you can leave—but you’ll have to go just as you’re dressed now.” (They had been dressed in military-style clothing by their captors.) Today, the kidnapping victims and their families want only one thing: help from the Mexican government to obtain asylum in the United States. Only there, they assert, will they be able to feel safe.

Source: Milenio