The former governor of Guerrero, Ruben Figueroa Figueroa, who committed a series of atrocities and is accused of having murdered and disappeared thousands of people, including Lucio Cabañas and Genaro Vázquez, was honored by the Morenista government of Evelyn Salgado.
Mexico City, November 12 (However).– The President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo asked this Wednesday at Warrior Congress review because there is still a tribute in the civic calendar dedicated to former governor of the entity, Ruben Figueroa Figueroawho accused of murder y thousands of people disappearedmainly from the guerrillas of the Poor People’s Party, led by Lucio Cabañas Barrientos; and from the National Revolutionary Civic Association, of Genaro Vázquez Rojas, whose murders are also attributed to him.
“I asked why it was. They say that it is in the civic days of Guerrero. The heroes and heroines are commemorated, I think that Guerrero does have to review why this person is in the civic days, because he was a person who was characterized by the repression of the people of Guerrero, among other things. So it is important that the Congress of Guerrero review its civic days,” Sheinbaum indicated in his morning press conference.
It was Sunday when the state government, headed by Morenista Evelyn Salgado, and the Huitzuco City Council, also from the Guinda party, commemorated the 117th anniversary of the birth of Rubén Figueroa Figueroa, the infamous former PRI governor of Guerrero. The event took place at a preschool that bears his name.
The Government delegate in the Northern region, Rodolfo Jesús Martínez Méndez, represented Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda at the event. Representing the re-elected Mayor of Morena, Eder Nájera Nájera, was the director of municipal Education, Horacio Astudillo Barrios. In the presidium, there was the son and also former governor of Guerrero, Rubén Figueroa Alcocer, friend of former president Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León and accused of massacres such as those of Aguas Blancas and El Charco.
Rubén Figueroa Figueroa was Governor of Guerrero between April 1, 1975 and March 31, 1981. He was also known as the “Tigre de Huitzuco.” He was characterized by his heavy hand and was linked to the murders of activists. He is also credited with his participation in the so-called “Flights of Death”, an act of forced disappearance of peasants, activists and members of the Poor People’s Party that consisted of throwing them from a plane or helicopter into the sea.
The former general director of Civic Activities of the Ministry of Culture, David Loma Hernández, explained to The South of Acapulco that on three occasions he told Governor Salgado Pineda’s office that it was not pertinent to commemorate the birth of former governor Rubén Figueroa Figueroa, contemplated in the calendar of civic activities of the state of Guerrero, explaining that this goes against the ideology of the governments of the Fourth Transformation (4T) “and of many comrades who died fighting.”
Loma Hernández said that then the office responded that they agreed, and he does not understand why the ceremony was held this year, which must have higher authorization.
Likewise, he explained that the act is part of the Official Civic Calendar contemplated in Law 961 on symbols of identity and belonging of the state of Guerrero, which was created at the initiative of Governor Alejandro Cervantes, which was reformed in 2018 to include all former governors. “They themselves applauded and celebrated, it was a calendar made by the PRIAN-PRD.”
Organizations and relatives of victims of Rubén Figueroa raise their voices
The president of the group of Wives and Children of Disappeared and Displaced Persons of the Dirty War, Octaviano Gervasio Serrano, declared that the relatives of the victims of the repression during the Government of Rubén Figueroa Figueroa are “terribly outraged” by the tribute. “They are paying tribute to a criminal and bloodthirsty person like Figueroa Figueroa, who ordered the disappearance and murder of hundreds of people,” he declared to The South.
Octaviano Gervasio recalled that the former governor not only ordered several victims to disappear and be murdered, but also raped many others. “He is a ruthless killer and that aggravates us, the families of the victims of that time, even more.”
Indeed, Micaela Cabañas, daughter of Lucio Cabañas, recounted in June 2022 how as a child she was imprisoned in Military Camp Number One along with her mother María Isabel Anaya Nava, who was tortured by General Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro and raped by the former governor of Guerrero Rubén Figueroa Figueroa.
“It is a mockery of the victims, it is a mockery of those of us who have suffered from that government. It makes me sick to say his name, I don’t even dare to pronounce it. It is a lack of respect for all the victims and survivors who lived and suffered everything that he caused us in the state of Guerrero,” said Micaela Cabañas in an interview with “Los Periodistas”, a program that is broadcast on the YouTube channel of However On Air.
Cabañas regretted that a government that calls itself leftist and that assumes itself as the heir of social struggles pays tribute to those who were executioners of the people of Guerrero.
“I cannot applaud the government that today represents the left and I can generate a very legitimate claim: they are very poorly informed, they do not know the history of the state they represent and govern. It is painful that they are leading the state. These officials must be dismissed,” he stated.
The activist also criticized that, after the controversy unleashed on November 9 by the commemoration of the person responsible for the military operation that ended her father’s life, no authority has offered an apology so far.
Government of Guerrero: this is the law; they will review reform
On Tuesday, the Secretary of Culture of Guerrero argued in a statement that the commemoration of the 117th anniversary of the birth of Rubén Figueroa Figueroa took place by mandate of Law Number 761 on Symbols of Identity and Belonging of the State of Guerrero, which, since its reform in 2019, “no modifications have been made to its content”, that is, before Morena assumed power.
“This regulatory framework also invites us to reflect on the way in which values, memories and identities are expressed in the public life of our state. In Guerrero, history and identity are built from dialogue, memory and respect for all voices,” the agency noted.
For this reason, he said, in this time of reflection on our history, “we reaffirm our commitment to the values that define Guerrero: social justice, plurality, inclusion, unrestricted respect for human rights and recognition of the diversity of its people.” “Each expression of memory must serve to unite, not to divide; to understand our past and continue building a future of peace, dignity and respect,” he concluded.
Finally, the Salgado Government, which assumed power in 2021, indicated that the Secretary of Culture of the State of Guerrero will review the current regulations “in order to guarantee that our legal framework reflects the democratic, social and cultural values that today guide the public life of Guerrero.”