A proposal to build a cartel-themed museum to draw tourist interest in Sinaloa is sparking controversy, causing debate all the way to the Mexican Senate.
The matter began last week when the mayor of Badiraguato, Jose Paz Lopez, talked about the need for a narco-museum to acknowledge the history of the local region and to promote tourism in the near future. Paz Lopez said there is no need to hide the history of Badiraguato, which is the birthplace of jailed Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Rafael Caro Quintero, an active drug lord tied to the 1985 murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki’ Camarena.
The issue made its way to the Mexican Senate, where Mario Zamora Gastellum from the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) broke ranks and spoke in favor of the museum, La Jornada reported. The politician petitioned the Senate to get involved in an exploratory process for building the museum, but it failed to draw enough approval.
After Paz Lopez’s comments, Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya initially denied that a narco-museum was under consideration. Shortly thereafter, the governor framed the controversy as a ploy to attack Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, according to SinEmbargo.mx. Rocha Moya and Paz Lopez are also part of the ruling Morena Party.
In June 2021, Guadalupe Iribe Gascon, who ran unsuccessfully against Paz Lopez for mayor, alleged that Paz Lopez masterminded the kidnapping of her brother as a way to pressure her into dropping out of the race, El Sol de Sinaloa reported at the time.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “C.P. Mireles” from Tamaulipas.